Election Commission chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman today called for an independent probe into complaints that the agency had failed to discharge its duties and responsibilities fairly and with due care.

He told a press conference at the EC headquarters in Putrajaya that he would welcome a royal commission to investigate the fiasco of Sunday's polls.

"It's better to have a royal commission which is answerable to Parliament," said Abdul Rashid when asked to elaborate on what he meant by an 'independent probe.'

The EC - a body tasked with the impartial management of free and fair general elections - has came under intense scrutiny with many voters complaining that they were unable to vote in the March 21 general elections.

Polling was disrupted in certain parts of the country when names went missing from the voter lists resulting in polling hours being extended by two hours in Selangor.

Vote suspended

There was also a mistake in ballot paper printing with wrong party symbols being used leading to the suspension of voting for Pahang's Sungai Lembing state seat which will now be held this Sunday.

In addition, ballot papers in some Malacca constituencies were found to be at the wrong polling stations.

The opposition has also complained of the existence of phantom voters in the electoral rolls.

Abdul Rashid had yesterday said that the commission has ordered an internal probe into the irregularities and that a report will be made known in 10 days.

At today's media briefing, he pledged that the EC would cooperate fully with the appointed probe body to study the weaknesses of the EC in conducting the 11th general election.

"Even though criticism is focused on the electoral roll, we feel that the EC's strengths and weaknesses should also be studied so that the integrity of future EC chairpersons and members is not affected," said Abdul Rashid.

Results official

The besieged EC chief recommended that the probe body also comprise of opposition parties' representatives and that it come up with a comprehensive, factual and transparent report which should be made public.

He stressed the setting up of an independent body to probe the polls fiasco would be the most appropriate step as the credibility and integrity of the EC was now at stake.

"As the people are not happy with whatever explanation we give ... than we think it would be better to appoint an independent body to look into the problems and find ways to overcome them," he said.

Asked wether the probe body's findings would affect the legality of the general election's results, Rashid said the current results were official and could only be challenged in the Election Court

Abdul Rashid also said he and the rest of the EC's members have decided not to bow to pressure asking them to resign " ... as this will not help in finding solutions to the problems."

Rashid, however, reiterated his earlier statement of that he and other EC members were prepared to relinquish their posts if they were asked to do so.

"We are all elderly people ... warga emas (golden citizens) ... by right I should be relaxing at home or attending by orchard. But we are all prepared to go," he quipped.

Putrajaya highest

Reporters gathered at the EC's media centre in Putrajaya as early as 10am for the press conference scheduled for noon.

However, they have to wait for another two more hours before Abdul Rashid and his team eventually arrived slightly after 2pm.

Abdul Rashid began the press conference by reading out the percentage of voter turnout for Sunday's polls.

He revealed that there was an average turnout of 73.33% for the parliament seats and 74.82% for the state seats.

States with highest voter turnout for parliament seats were Perlis (83.22%), Kedah (80.99%), Kelantan (80.99%) and Terengganu (89.72%). Putrajaya, with only a 5,079 electorate, led the pack with a voter turnout of 91.79%.