Although Bagan Pinang state seat is known to have one of the biggest postal voters in the country, PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali claims that the number has decreased substantially over the years.

pas pc 021009 mustafa ali According to figures based on the party's research, he said the sole army camp in Seri Rusa, Bagan Pinang, comprises 1,200 serving officers instead of the 4,604 mentioned previously.

"We have learnt that out of the 4,604 postal voters, only 1,200 are still qualified to vote.

"The rest (about 70 percent) of them are retired officers who no longer reside in the camp and some have been transferred elsewhere.

"They should instead vote as ordinary voters, but in this case their names are still listed as postal voters and we hope the Election Commission (EC) will do something about it," he said.

However, Mustafa later allowed that it is not under EC's jurisdiction to take out the retired officers out of the list as it is not enshrined in the constitution.

"Although I can expect the EC to argue that anyone listed in the electoral roll is eligible to vote and that is has no power to change or alter the list, we still want the EC to think of a way to ensure that only those voters staying in the camp area could vote by post," he said.

teluk kemang bagan pinang poster banner 290909 boycott banner Of the 13,664 voters in Bagan Pinang, a third of which or 4,604 comprise postal voters who would cast their ballots before the scheduled date of Oct 11.

Postal voters are made up of servicemen who generally favour the BN in overwhelming numbers.

As BN's majority was about 2,000 during the last polls, canvassing for postal votes has become an integral part of PAS' strategy to wrest the state seat in Negeri Sembilan from the BN.

Previously, PAS had urged the EC to drop a requirement that would compromise postal voting anonymity.

Known as the 'Borang 2', serial numbers can be found on the voter's ballot slip which could then be traced back to the counterfoil which carries the voter's personal information.

Not underdog, but close fight

On a separate note, Mustafa was confident that the battle between PAS and BN would be ‘neck-to-neck' rather than the opposition party being the underdog.

Furthermore, he said that the party should not expect it to be "smooth-sailing" as there could be many factors that could favour them despite Bagan Pinang being an Umno stronghold.

azlan He said this in response to Umno naming its former former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Isa Samad, who was stripped of his vice-president's post because of money politics, as its candidate.

PAS meanwhile, opted for its Negeri Sembilan party chief Zulkefly Mohd Omar for the fight.

"Umno might think that they have their own strength (by picking a former MB as a candidate) but the people want a candidate who is clean and has integrity," said Mustafa.

He pointed out that even former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had tagged Isa as a liability.

Mustafa dismissed suggestions the party's organisation was not as strong as in previous by-elections as the full force of its nationwide party machinery would be focused on this polls.

He also said that the party had identified several national and international issues for use as ammunition throughout the campaign period. However, he refused to reveal them.

Nomination day is tomorrow and polling is on Oct 11.