MGG Pillai Commentary View

<< Previous || Next >>

The EC extends voting in Selangor by two hours amidst BN fears it has lost the state

THE ELECTION COMMISSION IS a law unto itself in the conduct of general elections in Malaysia. It decrees what must be but it is not competent to carry it out. It had gazetted the general election today for between 0800 and 1700. It can be extended only with the consent of the candidates, not even the political parties they represent. But the EC did so on its own in Selangor, for the whole state, by two hours to 1900. The Opposition, and some BN, candidates are furious, and are caught by surprise. It does not matter. What the EC wants, it gets. If the EC decides to break the law, as it has, it can. In its books, it is more important for the BN to be returned to power by hook or by crook than ensure fair and clean elections. It distinguishes political parties as in the government and in the opposition, when it knows full well that they are, in its eyes, political parties. This is not the end of the matter. The clean, corrupt free administration the new prime minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, promised is frayed from the start, if he does not react sharply to distance himself, perhaps to reassert his authority call for fresh elections nationwide, with a new EC in charge.

The BN today realised the mess it is in and quickly moved to distance itself from the EC's dereliction of duty. The BN deputy president, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, blames the EC for the mess-up in the ballot paper in the Sungei Lembing state seat in Pahang where the PAS candidate is depicted as from KeADILan. The Gerakan president, Dato' Seri Lim Kheng Yaik, is furious at the missing names of voters, and now fears for his seat as a result. The government-owned radio and television networks all but blamed the EC for the confusion and anger at the incomplete electoral list, especially in areas where the Opposition PAS and KeADILan is particularly strong. This cannot be confirmed but the polls in Selangor was extended when it became clear when polls closed at 1700, that BN had not lost its two-thirds majority in Selangor but had probably lost the state too. What does seem clear is that even with the extended voting hours it has lost its two-thirds majority. It is a bigger blow to BN than losing Kedah and Perlis. As it stands the BN would well hold on to the two northern states.

But why did the EC helpfully tell Bernama that by 1300, 60 per cent of the electorate had voted, and it expects 80 per cent to do so when voting ends? Yet it said nothing about Kelantan and Trengganu where slightly over 30 per cent voted by noon. If it talked about voting in Kedah, it should have for the whole country. Who is the EC to decide that 80 per cent of the voters would come out to vote? How does it know? But that is what the BN wants. But the EC went about its task so the Opposition is frustrated in what it does. The printed list of electors it gave the Opposition was as incomplete as what the BN had was complete. This is why it banned the Opposition parties from setting up information booths outside polling stations. But at the last minute, allowed the BN to set up booths, which contained the full list. The Opposition list it got from the EC was incomplete, and its candidates could not track the voters down. When this was pointed to the EC, it helpfully told them they should do so at ceremahs instead! It did not know that its own organisation is so destroyed from within that it could not do what it promised. But the EC offices in Sabah and elsewhere had a printed list that did not have all the names in the CD.

The paramilitary Federal Reserve Unit is rushed to areas where trouble could start from this EC debacle. The EC secretary-general has apologised for its mistakes. That is not enough. He and his chairman must resign. Why did not the returning officers catch the mistakes within minutes of the polling? Why did they know of the mistakes in the ballot papers only after an Opposition candidate or his agent pointed it out? Should not these be checked from the start? Why were the candidates' representative not shown the ballot paper before polling began so that mistakes like these could be ignored? In areas like Gombak, where the missing voters were highest in the Klang Valley, the EC staff were not around to man the information desks. How could the names be missing from polling stations in the morning but is miraculously restored in the afternoon? This could be evaded for this would have been brought to EC's attention earlier than it did if political parties, not just BN, had their own information desks. They have the same mission as the EC in that they want fair and free elections.

Amidst this, if Pak Lah gets his sweeping two-thirds majority, his tenure in office is flawed. He must act quickly to bring sanity back to the electoral system. Nothing short of a royal commission would do. It must look into the debacle, it must allow the Leader of the Opposition to nominate two or three members of the EC, change drastically how it conducts itself. If the EC's dereliction of duty is serious, he must call for fresh elections, and allow election monitors from interested groups, and have a group of well-known worthies to whom representations can be made by the voter and candidate of whatever irks him. The returning officers must be hauled up for not attending to their assigned task. This cannot be pushed under the carpet. We only know of the mishaps in areas where there is interest. It is fair to assume that the mistakes in the Klang Valley could well occur in other constituencies. The mind of the civil servant is not to rock the boat. The civil servants are the returning officers in the election. It did all it could not to rock the boat. It is surprising that the BN leaders had not claimed victory, and told Malaysians they do the country proud for giving them another chance to serve. The BN did not realise that the ground had shifted from it. Pak Lah's nice-guy image and his promise of better things to come is not enough. The voter now holds him to account. He must think of recouping his reputation. Even if he has to call for fresh general elections under a more honest EC. Otherwise he is in more trouble than he thinks he is in.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@streamyx.com