15pc of women in Kalabakan unable to find names in poll rolls, says Women ChiefTAWAU: About 15 percent of the women voters in Kalabakan who had voted in the previous election could not find their name in the current electoral rolls.
Umno Women Kalabakan Chief Datuk Hjh Hamisa Samat, who revealed this yesterday, said she has reported the matter to the Umno Secretary General, and she hoped steps are being taken to reinstate the missing names as it would be a loss during the coming election.
“These women had voted in Kalabakan before, but their names are missing from the Election Commission’s electoral rolls,” she said when interviewed during her Hari Raya open house here yesterday.
Hamisa revealed the matter when asked about the Umno Women’s election preparation in Kalabakan for the coming election.
On the preparation, she said the Umno Women’s movement had never stopped its election machinery since the last election and to date, it has 9,918 registered members in Kalabakan.
On another matter, Hamisa said the younger generation’s “picky” altitude needs to be addressed so that they will accept whoever is chosen as a candidate during election.
She said the ‘Ketua 10’ (10 Chiefs) had studied the voters’ altitude during their house-to-house visit to update their information.
She said the K10, with each woman branch leader looking after 10 houses, found out that the elderly voters would choose BN regardless of who is standing under the BN banner, but the younger generation would vote based on who is the candidate.
“The Umno Wanita needs to explain to all voters the need to accept whoever is chosen as the candidate,” she said.
On the Umno Wanita Kalabakan’s stand on calls for the Merotai seat to be given back to Umno, Hamisa said they have no problem on the matter.
“We have no problem with it even if the candidate is not from Umno. We would support whoever is chosen from the BN component parties,” she said.
Meanwhile, in Kota Kinabalu, State BN Secretary Datuk Karim Bujang said all Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters will put their differences aside during the election to ensure victory for the ruling coalition and continued development for the people.
He said yesterday that despite arguments and difference of opinions about seat allocations and different views before any elections, the BN component parties, their members and supporters will at the end of the day still work together and abide by the leadership’s final decisions.
“Over the years, seat allocations have been a very hot topic, especially as election time draws near, but we can be assured that when the party leadership makes a statement and comes up with a decision, everybody will comply with it,” he told reporters during his Hari Raya Open House at his residence in Putatan, yesterday.
Karim said there was nothing wrong with requesting for extra seats and voicing one’s opinion, describing it as ‘normal’ but he believed that at the end of the process, everyone will accept the leadership’s decision.