KUCHING: Voters should only vote for candidates who can bring progress and prosperity, said Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
The Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development said they should avoid voting along religious lines.
Just because a party holds the same religious beliefs as the voter, it does not mean that the voter is obligated to vote for that party, he said.
Abdul Karim was advising voters from the six states, namely Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Kedah and Terengganu, who will be going to the polls soon.
Five of the states have announced the dissolution of their state legislative assemblies. The Election Commission (EC) is expected to decide on the nomination and polling dates soon.
“Though it does not involve Sarawak, I hope the voters in those states will vote wisely,” he told reporters during a press conference on the Sarawak Hornbill Team Challenge 2023 at Pandelela Aquatic Centre here today.
Without naming the party, he said a certain party sometimes abused and distorted religion to get votes.
“And there are people who believe them. It’s not that I want to say anything bad about them but they should not abuse the system.
“Voters should only vote for those who can bring progress and prosperity,” he said.
Abdul Karim also advised voters to dump corrupt politicians.
“Sometimes we feel sad seeing the corrupt winning in elections.
“I do not know how it happened but if it’s possible we need to discard the corrupt ones and let new people to be leaders,” he said.
For the record, Kelantan announced the dissolution of its state assembly on June 22, Selangor (June 23), the state assemblies of Kedah and Penang will dissolve on June 28, and Negeri Sembilan on June 30.
Terengganu is expected to follow suit soon.
The EC had said the six states should hold the polls simultaneously, and parties and coalitions from both sides of the divide in the six states have agreed to go to the polls simultaneously.
