KUALA LUMPUR: PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is currently in jail for sodomy charges, cannot vote in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election on May 7.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the matter was contained in the law which, among others, stated that those of unsound mind and prisoners could not vote.
“According to EC laws, there are a number of conditions including age limits and categories of people who are not allowed to vote, among them those who are insane and prisoners. “I’ve have checked and found that no prisoners have been allowed to vote. This is not what I am saying, it’s the law which is saying it,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby, here, today.
The Permatang Pauh by-election is being held after Anwar was disqualified as an elected representative after the Pardons Board rejected a petition filed by his family members.
Anwar is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for sodomising his former personal aide. – BERNAMA