Sacked from military, airman to enlist with Pakat

(Malay Mail Online) – The air force major sacked for blowing the whistle on weaknesses with the indelible ink used in Election 2013 said tonight he will join a Pakatan Rakyat party.

Major Zaidi Ahmad revealed his decision at a press conference after a forum by electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 tonight, but did not say which of the three opposition parties he will sign up with.

“Insya’allah, where else, I will be with Pakatan Rakyat. If you don’t agree with the present government, you must have an alternative, but that doesn’t mean that the alternative is good or the best.

“But I have to go and do my part to make it (PR) viable as an alternative,” Zaidi said, adding that it is everyone’s right to choose their political affiliations.

On Monday, a five-man panel in the military court here found Zaidi to be guilty of two charges — publishing an article without the consent of the Defence Ministry, and revealing the contents of official documents on the indelible ink without authorisation from the Malaysian Armed Forces Council.

The court martial decided to dismiss the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) officer from his 26 years of service over his breach of military protocol, but said the sentence must be first confirmed by a confirming officer.

Indelible ink was introduced in Election 2013 as one of the main safeguards against repeat voting, but the scandal surrounding its easy removal transformed it into a symbol of the widespread electoral fraud allegedly perpetrated to keep Barisan Nasional in power.