MCA believes in right of every Malaysian to vote in GE

(Bernama) – Every Malaysian citizen has the right to vote, regardless of whether they lived in the country or overseas, as long as they are registered voters, said MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said voting in the elections was the duty of every citizen and was a fundamental right of all Malaysians, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
   
“MCA believes there are many technical and logistical issues, which must be addressed first.
   
“They include issues such as the mobilisation of Malaysian embassies to accommodate the over-700 polling boxes for both state and parliamentary constituencies.
   
“The systems must be in place to avoid duplicate votes and verify registered voters,” he said in a statement here today.
   
Liow explained that at this point in time, it was not yet feasible to enable smooth balloting through embassies or Malaysian consulates. Therefore, the party felt that overseas voters should return and fulfill their responsibilities to vote during the elections.

“MCA believes in the right of every Malaysian to vote. It is our hope that the relevant authorities will resolve the various technical and logistical issues as quickly as possible.
   
“I urge the DAP not to politicise this issue or distort the truth for their own political mileage,” he said.
   
MCA has come under severe criticism after it was reported the party was against overseas Malaysians voting in the general election during a recent public hearing session by Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms.
   
The criticisms continue despite clarfication by party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek that MCA was not against overseas Malaysians voting but merely wanted few factors to be considered and resolved before it could be done.