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Flip-flop shows EC under Umno's thumb
Published:  Jan 14, 2012 9:40 AM
Updated: 1:47 AM

YOURSAY 'If Umno doesn't want it, then it cannot be implemented. They will come out with all sorts of cock-and-bull stories to justify their actions.'

Nazri: I blocked use of indelible ink in 2008 polls

your say Bender: There you have it! A living proof that EC (Election Commission) was never independent like it should be.

It's not like we need any proof before this to establish that fact, but for those who still think EC is impartial, here it is - de facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz's own confession.

And if EC wasn't impartial in the last election, what on earth could make it impartial this time around?

Cannon: This is one more proof that the 'independence' of our governmental institutions is pure fiction. It comes from Nazri - nothing less than from the horse's mouth - that he blocked the use of indelible ink by the EC in the 2008 general elections.

It reveals to us that the EC chief receives his marching orders from the Prime Minister's Department. Ex-EC chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman lied to the public to cover up the real reason why the use of indelible ink was suddenly scrapped, citing security concerns.

This episode does not come as any shock to Malaysians. We all know our system of institutional checks and balances has practically been demolished under 54 years of Umno-BN rule.

Umno's resistance to the use of indelible ink has been overcome by public pressure this time, just as the acquittal of Anwar Ibrahim by the High Court in the face of people power.

Solaris: Before the last GE, 47,000 bottles of indelible ink were purchased from India at a cost of RM2.4 million but the EC backed out at the last minute citing public order and security issues.

The ink must have ended up down the drain - just like the RM2.4 million.

Disgusted: Who was the crony who was appointed to source the indelible ink for the 12th GE?

What happened to all that ink - poured into the Klang river or sold off to some other party overseas at a discount and money pocketed?

The auditor-general has to probe this. In the meantime, Nazri deserves the middle finger - one that is painted with the indelible ink - from the rakyat.

Malaysian Born: The fact is that in countries with huge Muslim populations, the use of indelible ink has become standard practice.

The claim that the recent changes to the law were actually needed is utter nonsense as half the things we are required to do for security reasons in this country would be unconstitutional.

Nazri in doing the dance to try to justify his idiotic action is an insult to our intelligence. My concern is what the actual reason was for not using the ink in 2008? It is very suspicious and his flippant attitude just makes it worse.

Nazri should go back to being a normal MP and not get mixed-up with the law. He is clearly not a very good lawyer.

Bluemountains: It only goes to prove one thing - if Umno doesn't want it, then it cannot be implemented. They will come out with all sorts of cock-and-bull stories to justify their actions.

Bersih 2.0 had really jolted them. The rakyat has shown them that we mean business.

What was earlier deemed illegal by the de facto law minister and AG (attorney-general) has suddenly become legal.

By Election Fan: Former EC chief Abdul Rashid, due to your ‘kowtowing' to your Umno lords, we are forced to accept a possibly illegitimate government that might already lost its power to rule had you insisted indelible ink in the last GE.

You had failed to do your job impartially in serving the nation and the rakyat as required under the constitution and you had betrayed the Agong.

Kgen: Abdul Rashid should not be let off. He was appointed by the Agong. Even the PM has no power to remove him, so why did he let himself be ordered around by a mere minister?

He could have stood up to Nazri and acted independently but he did not. Why didn't he? He was just one of the gang.

Swipenter: All the damn lies are surfacing slowly one by one. I do not feel sorry for Rashid being made to lie because he was part of the whole elaborate scheme to stop the use of the indelible ink. He was just a stooge of Umno.

His boss told him to lie so he lied to all Malaysians. These liars have no compunction to use Islam and the constitution as basis of their lies.

Anonymous_3hdchd: "There was also concern among Muslims at that time that the ink will block water from reaching the skin when cleaning up for prayers," said Nazri.

Good grief, this is what happens when we pander to simplistic religiosity. If we don't halt this slide into childish superstition, Malaysia will suffer the fate of other fanatical Islamic states.

I feel so 'malu' (ashamed) when Muslims from other parts of the world tease me about the Malay approach to Islam.

FellowMalaysian: Nazri, you mean to say that right till the last days prior to the March 2008 election, you were still questioning what happened if someone refused to be marked by the indelible ink? And you also had concerns about the fatwa?

So why have you kept these reasons away from the public over the past four years? And former EC chief Abdul Rashid had the cheek to lie to us then that the ink posed security concerns.

It also showed that the government was never serious about implementing the use of indelible ink right from the beginning.

Nazri, as a minister in the PM's Department, you are incompetent and kept the truth from the public, and this rendered you unfit for the job.

Anomnim: "Under the constitution, if you fulfill the two conditions, aged 21 and above and are a registered voter, you must be given the ballot paper," said Nazri.

How about the people who are outside the country but was refused the ballot paper. Nazri, don't be a hypocrite.

Opah: "There is no real need for indelible ink because we have identity cards and no one has two identity cards," said Nazri.

Is Nazri really as stupid as he sounds? Indelible ink was proposed precisely because the ‘identity card only' system is wide open to fraud.

Since the EC follows the directives of Umno, it has allegedly allowed the same identity card to be used in different polling areas.

This is why we need indelible ink - it won't get rid of all the ills of our election system but it will eliminate double or triple voting with one IC.

Kgen: The indelible ink does not remove anybody's constitutional right to vote, it only stops them from voting more than once. Why is this so difficult for Nazri to understand?

 


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