GE14 | Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad has voiced his appreciation for Armed Forces chief Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor's clarification on where its loyalties lie.

Mahathir said with that explanation, and with Umno acting deputy president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s call for Armed Forces members to vote for BN, Harapan would campaign for the support of the troops as well. 

“I would like to thank the chief of the Armed Forces for his explanation that he is still loyal to the king and country. There was a statement issued (that reads), ‘the Armed Forces’ loyalty remains with king and country, not political parties’.

“So now that we are very clear, I also found that Zahid has told the army to support BN.

“So, we are going to campaign among the serving members of the Armed Forces to reject BN, because if he can campaign among the serving staff, we consider ourselves also eligible to campaign among the staff,” Mahathir told a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

Read more: Troops loyal to king and country not parties, clarifies Armed Forces chief

During a speech at a dinner function for the police and armed forces on March 30, Raja Mohamed Affandi stated that caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak had done much to look after the Armed Forces’ welfare, and its members should be grateful.

"With this in mind, we as the troops and defenders of peace, should feel gratitude for the benefits given.

"I urge that we manifest this by giving our undivided loyalty to the country and the government led by the prime minister," he had said.

Mahathir had condemned this on several occasions; once stating that Najib now has his own army, then asking whether the security forces would only come to their senses if he were assassinated.

Earlier today, Utusan Borneo quoted Raja Mohamed Affandi as saying that the Armed Forces’ loyalty lay with king and country, and it is ever ready the serve the people and the government of the day.

“In the soul of a soldier, from the moment they are born to their death, is a spirit of strong loyalty to king and country.

“This never fades, so I wish to say that the Armed Forces are those who have undivided loyalty to king and country,” he reportedly told a press conference yesterday.