Zahid on Rela: I was only joking; EC: Zahid was just giving advice

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today said that he was merely "joking" with the voluntary corp (Rela) members when he said he knew who among them did not vote in the last general election.

He also blamed the media for apparently not getting the joke and "spinning" his speech.

"This is the work of some people who are not good. Most of them  (the media) are good, but one or two of them are not good," he said.

"I am not as stupid as the person who wrote the news," Ahmad Zahid (right in picture) said during a speech addressing police personnel in Teluk Intan today.

He also said that he did not imply that the Rela members did not vote for BN in the last elections.

Instead, he stressed that what the ministry possesses is a list to show who among Rela members voted, but not who they voted for.

"I said we know those who didn't go out to vote, it's not about voting BN," he said.

No allocation if DAP rep elected

Although addressing to police personnel, a large chunk of his speech was directed at the media, with the minister also clarifying that he did not issue a threat to Rela members.

This was regarding his remark that they would not get their uniforms if BN did not win the Teluk Intan by-election.

"All I said was, there is an allocation for Rela members given to every BN MP...

"If the MP is from DAP, they won't get this allocation," he said.

On a separate matter, Ahmad Zahid said that he did not think DAP candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud (above) was "very pretty" but merely photogenic.

"She came and shook my hands on nomination day. She is not even that pretty. The posters, she looks pretty, but in real life, not very pretty," he said.