Umno VP: Law forbids Anwar to vote in P. Pauh

ROMPIN:
Umno vice president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal took Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to task for saying that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should be allowed to vote in the Permatang Pauh by-election.
Shafie said Anwar should not be given the privilege as the law does not allow inmates to vote.
"The law must be upheld at all times, there's no one above the law.
"He should not be given the privilege just because he is the opposition leader," Shafie said after the Kedaik rest and recovery (regrouping plan) groundbreaking event in Muadzam Shah here today.
Shafie added that under the Federal Constitution, prisoners are not allowed to vote.
Article 119(3)(a) of the Federal Constitution states that "a person is disqualified for being a elector in any election to the House of Representatives or the Legislative Assembly if on the qualifying date he is detained as a person of unsound mind or is serving a sentence of imprisonment."
"The constitution says a prisoner should stay in prison ... if every prisoner has that privilege, then it would be troublesome," Shafie said.
On Sunday, Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar proposed that Anwar, who is currently serving a five-year sentence at the Sungai Buloh prison should be allowed to vote in the coming Permatang Pauh by-election.
Nurul Izzah said the appeal is a follow-up on the Home Ministry’s plan in June 2013 to allow convicts to exercise their rights to vote.