MGG Pillai Commentary View

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Is the EC chairman to be sacrificed for the 11th General Elections mess?

THE MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, takes the only view he can, that the polls are over, it does not matter if it is flawed or not, all that mess the Election Commission caused has nothing to do with him. The important thing is his overwhelming mandate, and his first task is to appoint the cabinet and mentris besar. Possession, after all, is nine-tenths the law. He is in control. Now who would dare overturn that? The Election Commission? With Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahmand as chairman and Dato' Wan Ahmad Wan Omar as its secretary? But however you look at it, this electoral mess has reduced Pak Lah in stature. The mainstream euphoria of his victory comes with caveats that could sink him if this EC mess gets out of hand. What Pak Lah and the EC glosses over is that with this election, as I noted in a commentary two days ago, the rubicon is crossed. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fabe records: The Rubicon was a small river that separated ancient Italy from Cisalpine Gaul, the province alloted to Julius Caesar. When he crossed this stream in 49 BC, he passed beyond the limits of his province, and he became an invader, thus precipitating war with Pompey and the Senate.

Tan Sri Rashid's once-ebullient self-confidence, and his utter contempt for "opposition" parties, makes way, after the elections, to not contriteness but arrogance, that if the polls were improperly conducted, how could it be his fault? He was not there at every polling station to see for himself. How could he? So how can he be blamed? Of course, he would not resign, unless he and his election commissioners, the latter with no role but to rubber stamp his dictates, can be proved to be personally liable. What he should realise, if he has not already, is that with all parties, including the BN, baying for his blood, his future as EC chairman is about to come to a sticky end. If this mess gets further, and edges closer to the inner circle of government, men like him would be the sacrifical lambs to feed the baying wolves cheated of fair and free elections. It is easier, after all, to get rid of him than, God Forbid, call for fresh elections. He made sure, before the polls, only the BN is favoured, the final electoral list what is handed out on the morning of nomination day, made it impossible for political parties to buy additional copies of the printed list and the CD Roms without sacrificing an arm and a leg.

The heat is on him. He knows it. He insists now the elections results if final, should not be questioned, and those who want to challenge them should only in the courts, not the EC. The EC, you understand, has to defend its chairman, and prove it conducted a superbly fair and free elections. Proof? The gist of his defence is that the only political party that matters in 2004 Malaysia, the BN, despite its carping complaints, is happy it won; the opposition are sore losers, is decimated, so what they have to say do not count. He should not get away with it, and he would only if the BN is uneasy about the rising volume of accusations of unfair and unfree elections.

He made a mockery of how fair and free elections are conducted. He allowed the rules to be changed at whim. The Selangor EC office says it acted on 'good intentions' when it changed the format of how voters are listed - by their address and not by their identity card serial numbers, allegedly to reduce queueing of voters. The system is finetuned and readied for use throughout the country, and no state EC office can change it with impunity. The extending of polling by two hours is illegal - there is as yet no gazette notification to that effect - the sudden appearance of a different electoral list in the afternoon, in several opposition strongholds, with the names missing in the morning in it, is illegal. The list cannot be altered once it is released. The returning officers did not, often enough, did not do their work in ensuring that the elections were properly conducted, even preventing polling agents from lodging complaints. The view grows that the EC was in cahoots with person or persons yet unknown to hijack this election. I have an idea who could be behind this, and he is not Pak Lah.

What is known so far is the unusually high turnout - in one instance, 98.7 per cent, in the Malay heartland which Pak Lah had to secure as a first step to the more important election, in his eyes, in June when UMNO elects a new president. A hidden hand is clearly evident, and which had an enormous hold over Tan Sri Rashid. Pak Lah is clear of this: he should not be responsible for this, for the plan for this was in place long before he took over. The net result is that we are about to say goodbye to fair and free elections in this blessed country of ours. Such electoral skullduggery did, of course, take place in the past, but it did not cause such anguish and upset because we had then an impartial election commission, which took its tasks seriously, and minimised it.

When the EC found out, it would take the party to task, whoever it is. In 1969, the EC chairman was an old Tunku crony, Dato' Megat Khas. As the elections of that year progressed, the Tunku had reason to be annoyed with Dr Megat Khas. As the Tunku told me of the incident: "I told him that it was I who nominated him. He replied: 'You appointed me for what I am, a man of principle and not as your mouthpiece. If you had appointed me for that, and I know you would not, I would have rejected it. If you are wrong, I shall say you are. If you insist on removing me from this office, I shall explain why.' " Today, the EC chairman and secretary are appointed for how loyally they serve the BN. Is it not a fact that many EC temporary staff for the elections are from UMNO Youth and UMNO Puteri? Is it not a fact that UMNO, not the BN, had the full electoral list and CD Roms well before nomination day? Why? How? Why was only the BN allowed its "pondok panas", where voters could check their polling details, but not the opposition?

The EC chairman is defensive. Dato' Wan Ahmad prepares a report on the EC, which would be ready soon. Tan Sri Abdul Rashid, has second thoughts about it. He wants an independent inquiry, even if necessary a royal commission. He fights for a reputation already in tatters. In 1994, when he was EC secretary, it was he who forced the opposition party in Sabah which won the election, the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) of Dato' Joseph Pairin Kitingan, to gather outside the residence of the Yang Dipertua Negri (governor), for 48 hours and with portable toilets in tow. Tan Sri - as he was not then - Rashid would not convey to the Yang Dipertua Negri the PBS's victory to give time for the pro-Kuala Lumpur parties to persuade, with millions of ringgit in cash, PBS state assemblymen to defect. He is, in UMNO's eyes, a reliable man who would do whatever it wants of him. He could have softened the blow to himself by accepting the blame and promptly resigning. He did not. That is his misjudgment. He is about to become an official pariah. And more. Once he was a valued member of the congregation of his local mosque, the Abu Bakar as-Siddiq, in Bangsar. Now he would come for prayers, and leave immediately. Could he, after this electoral mess, go there at all?

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