Call to boycott voting a BN strategy, says Tun M

PUTRAJAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) has urged people, especially young voters, not to boycott the upcoming General Elections (GE14).
Its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pix) said the boycott is a strategy made by Umno to help the current government to stay in power.
"They (Umno) know very well that if the turnout is low, then it will help with BN victory. The problem is, Umno wants to win by misleading the people," Mahathir said in a press conference held at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here today.
On the call to boycott voting in the GE14, Matahir said it is shallow-minded. "I think this is shallow-minded, if we would not want to change the governance then I, as a 92-year-old man, would not be participating anymore (in politics).
"Each vote counts, even though we think that this boycott will only affect 1% of the turnout, we don't like people that shy away in politics, as well as those who do not practise their rights as a citizen. Recently, people have to go to social media to create a movement to not participate in the upcoming polls."
These anti-election supporters have started discussions on social media followed by the hashtags #UndiRosak or #SpoiltVote, and #ProtesPRU or #GEProtest.
A Facebook page called "Undi Rosak" (spoilt votes) " were also created as they view that there is no difference between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan and they have the rights not to vote or to spoil their votes.
Mahathir said his coalition is mobilising the young people through its four parties to hold a dialogue with young people on the importance of practising their rights.
Mahathir, who has led the country for 22 years, stressed that he will not rejoin Umno.
His response came after Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, who is the son of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak called for Mahathir to return to Umno.
"Umno today is no longer Umno, it is Najib's party, he has hijacked everything and I will never join Umno back," Mahathir said.