KUALA BESUT, July 19 — In a bid to raise voter support for the July 24 polls, PAS ventured last night into the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base in Gong Kedak near here and told the servicemen they owed an allegiance only to god and the Malay rulers, not the government of the day.

Having broken the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s iron-grip on the military in the May 5 general election, the opposition party assured the airmen — who form a substantial part of the Kuala Besut constituency’s electorate—that they would not be affected by any change in the state administration should PAS win the by-election.

“Servicemen are a chosen breed... Our obedience is only towards Allah. But in administration, we have to remember, our obedience is only towards His Royal Highness the Agong,” said Lt Col (Rtd) Mohd Nazari Mokhtar, president of Kerabat, a group of military pensioners aligned to the three-party Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, of which PAS is a partner together with PKR and the DAP.

“Because we are the ‘king’s soldiers’ [sic]. Our supreme commanders are the Agong and the Malay kings,” he added during the PAS rally.

The retired serviceman told his former compatriots that the very name of their armed forces unit said so, as it bore the word “royal” to highlight their position.

In Malaysia, like many other countries, the armed forces are split into three separate units to cover air, land and sea security. The word “royal”, however, appears only in the name of its air force and sea troops as the Royal Malaysian Navy.

While the Malaysian Army does not bear the word “royal”, some of its corps and regiments do, such as the Royal Armoured Corp and the Royal Malay Regiment.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy where the country’s King, known locally as the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, is elected from among nine Malay state Rulers to rule for a five-year term.

In accordance with the Federal Constitution, the King is also the commander-in-chief, the country’s highest-ranking officer in the military chain of command, with a duty to appoint the heads of each of the three military forces.

Mohd Nazari, who has been actively campaigning for PAS in this by-election had previously run in the 13th general election where he was fielded by the Islamist party as its candidate for the Pasir Raja state seat in Johor.

The party had made inroads then when a number of retirees broke ranks with the establishment to cast their votes with the opposition PR, especially with PAS.

“The problem today is after frequent propaganda... it is set in the minds of servicemen and former servicemen that our supreme commander is not the Agong, but BN leaders,” said Mohd Nazari.

“Whether PR or BN rules, our loyalty is only towards the Agong. We should not worry,” he added.

It is estimated that there are around 1,200 voters from the Gong Kedak air force base, which makes up part of the Kuala Besut state seat’s 17,679 registered voters.

BN began its campaign for the upcoming Kuala Besut by-election in the camp earlier, with a visit by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein two days ago.

During his visit, Hishamuddin handed over the keys to new homes for RMAF veterans in the nearby Kampung Tok Beris.