This is Nazri's message for overseas Malaysians. Furthermore, he says those who have been abroad for many years, don't love this country.
KUALA LUMPUR: If Malaysians living abroad want to cast their votes, they should come back here to do so, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz.
“If I am a Malaysian, I’ll come back and vote,” he told Parliament today.
He said that many overseas Malaysians were in other countries out of their own will, and not because they were forced to.
“Those who have been there for five or six years and don’t come back, they don’t love Malaysia,” he added.
Nazri was responding to DAP-Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan, who asked on the possibility of giving overseas Malaysians the right to vote.
The minister said that the government could only give voting exceptions to government servants and full-time students overseas, as well as their accompanying spouses.
“The important element here is that they are out of the country not because they want to (kerelaan hati) but because they are there on a temporary basis, or are forced to,” he added.
Nazri also warned that if this exception was lifted, many “would go overseas”, adding that the government had to consider voters’ absence from a logistics perspective.
He said that this was in accordance with Article 119 of the Federal Constitution.
Article 119(b) states that eligible voters have to be a: “resident in a constituency on such qualifying date or, if not so, the resident, is an absent voter”.
Agreeing with Nazri, Umno’s Kalabakan MP Abdul Ghapur Salleh said that overseas Malaysians had lost their faith in the country.
“Why should we give them the right to vote in the country?” he asked. “Perhaps our countrymen who have gone overseas want to bring down our country’s name if we give them this right.”
DAP-Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran said that the Federal Constitution did not mention a cut-off period for overseas Malaysians.
He said that Malaysians had the right to vote as long as they were “federal citizens”.
KUALA LUMPUR: If Malaysians living abroad want to cast their votes, they should come back here to do so, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz.
“If I am a Malaysian, I’ll come back and vote,” he told Parliament today.
He said that many overseas Malaysians were in other countries out of their own will, and not because they were forced to.
“Those who have been there for five or six years and don’t come back, they don’t love Malaysia,” he added.
Nazri was responding to DAP-Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan, who asked on the possibility of giving overseas Malaysians the right to vote.
The minister said that the government could only give voting exceptions to government servants and full-time students overseas, as well as their accompanying spouses.
“The important element here is that they are out of the country not because they want to (kerelaan hati) but because they are there on a temporary basis, or are forced to,” he added.
Nazri also warned that if this exception was lifted, many “would go overseas”, adding that the government had to consider voters’ absence from a logistics perspective.
He said that this was in accordance with Article 119 of the Federal Constitution.
Article 119(b) states that eligible voters have to be a: “resident in a constituency on such qualifying date or, if not so, the resident, is an absent voter”.
Agreeing with Nazri, Umno’s Kalabakan MP Abdul Ghapur Salleh said that overseas Malaysians had lost their faith in the country.
“Why should we give them the right to vote in the country?” he asked. “Perhaps our countrymen who have gone overseas want to bring down our country’s name if we give them this right.”
DAP-Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran said that the Federal Constitution did not mention a cut-off period for overseas Malaysians.
He said that Malaysians had the right to vote as long as they were “federal citizens”.
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