PARLIAMENT | Deputy Defence Minister Mohd Johari Baharum today defended the existence of 1,051 army voters at the Segamat camp, which is still under construction.

Johari said army voters can be deployed although the camp will only be completed in the middle of 2018.

In his winding-up of the 2018 Budget debate yesterday, Johari cited another example where a territorial army regiment was placed at the border in Sarawak even though the camp is yet to be completed.

Under such a situation, he added, the army personnel who were deployed there are stationed around the area.

In another case, he noted how the army voters had to rent houses nearby.

Johari (photo) said this when he was pressed for answers by several opposition lawmakers, including Anthony Loke (DAP-Seremban), Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena), Sim Tze Tzin (PKR-Bayan Baru) and V Sivakumar (DAP-Batu Gajah).

They raised their questions after Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Razali Ibrahim, said the Election Commission would register the voters at camps after receiving applications from the military.

Previously, Johari's boss, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, had urged the opposition to refer their questions to the Armed Forces chief.

"Nobody in their right mind will want to go somewhere that is not conducive to live in and we (the government) would be crazy to transfer soldiers without the housing because they will go there and they won’t vote for us.

"So, logically, it (the allegation) doesn't make sense," Hishammuddin said.

However, Johari confirmed that the Segamat camp has yet to be completed.

When pressed about the electoral regulation that voters have to register at the place they reside, the deputy minister declined to comment further.

However, Johari added that army camps are constructed for security reasons, and are not politically motivated.

In the last general election for the Segamat parliamentary seat, MIC president Dr S Subramaniam won it with 20,037 votes, against the 18,820 votes received by PKR.