State polls: More than 17,000 army personnel eligible to vote

KOTA BHARU: More than 17,000 officers and men and their spouses of the Army Western Field in four of the six states involved in the state election are eligible to vote.

Army Western Field commander Lt Gen Datuk Tengku Muhammad Fauzi Tengku Ibrahim said the members would vote by post while their spouses would be early voters on August 8.

"There are 27 areas in the Western Field, six in Kelantan, Terengganu (8), Kedah (6) and Penang (7).

"Each officer and member needs to fulfill his responsibility as a citizen and make a choice according to his own view," he said.

He said this after officiating the closing ceremony of the Keris Strike Exercise between the Malaysian Army (TDM) and the United States Army Pacific Commander (USARPAC) at Kem Desa Pahlawan here, today.

Also present were US 11th Airborne Division Commanding General, Major Gen Brian S. Eifler, Commander of the Second Malaysian Infantry Division, Major Gen Datuk Muhammad Huzaimi Sabri, Commander of the Eighth Infantry Brigade Brid Gen Azudin Hassan and Lt Col Jonathan Earl Doiron.

Commenting on the exercise held, Tengku Muhammad Fauzi said the exercise which started on July 17 and ended today aimed to increase the combat readiness of TDM and USARPAC in interoperability with each other in various situations.

He said the exercise involving 3,303 members from TDM and 414 members of USARPAC was also to improve the skills of the commanders, officers and members in the planning and implementation of operations.

"The implementation of this exercise is also to raise the level of knowledge of TDM and USARPAC members, especially in the phase of conventional warfare in addition to sharing ideas and experiences.

"In this training we can learn from them and vice versa the knowledge and expertise that each one has. This exercise also facilitates defence cooperation which is part of the element of military diplomacy," he said.

-- BERNAMA