As Friday deadline for postal vote registration looms, Kit Siang urges Johoreans in Singapore to register for Malaysia’s future

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — Veteran DAP lawmaker Lim Kit Siang today urged the 200,000 Johoreans who are based in Singapore to register as postal voters ahead of the February 18 deadline.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said that the 200,000 voters must put in their votes to make sure they “do not become suckers twice” by letting Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno win, which may pave the way for Datuk Seri Najib Razak to return as prime minister.

“The 200,000 Johor voters, as well as the right-thinking ones in the state, cannot be proud of Najib and the 1MDB scandal, which was described as ‘kleptocracy at its worst’ by the then US Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, as the present and future generations of Malaysians have the pay for the billions of 1MDB debts guaranteed by the Malaysian government.

“Right-thinking Malaysians cannot be proud of such criminal breach of trust and colossal corruption and that is why the 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore must make their condemnation loud and clear,” he said in a statement.

He said that he had previously asked the Election Commission (EC) to extend its registration for postal voters by a week — from February 18 to 25 — but has not received a reply.

“I hope there will be good news from the Election Commission today or tomorrow that the registration of postal voters will be extended to next Friday,” Lim said.

Lim’s call echoes Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who sought to galvanise Singapore-based Johoreans to register as postal voters for the March 12 state election.

According to the Muar MP, only about 1,000 of those eligible have registered so far.

“We would like to urge Malaysians living in Singapore to register now for a big change,” hw was quoted saying by Singapore daily Straits Times in a news report yesterday.

The introduction of Undi18 and automatic voter registration will see around 750,000 new voters in Johor, with those aged between 18 and 20 making up close to 175,000 voters.

Nomination day for the Johor election falls on February 26. Early voting is on March 8.