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Are we expected to tolerate voter intimidation?
Published:  May 26, 2014 12:14 PM
Updated: 8:43 AM

YOURSAY ‘Secret balloting is supposed to be what it is - secret.'

 

Ambiga: Rela warning breached Election Act

Lin Wenquan: Secret balloting is supposed to be what it is - secret. If BN can know who voted and who abstained, then by extension, it would also know the voters' choice of party.

But how? With the connivance of a supposedly independent Election Commission (EC)? Are there loopholes in the balloting process that BN has exploited to victimise especially civil servants, members of the police and the military forces who chose to vote for BN's 'enemies'?

The onus is on EC to explain to us that the validity of this threat by the home minister. Otherwise the fears of the people that the EC has abetted BN to stay in power through gerrymandering and fraud are valid.

Let us not be distracted by the 'Dyana Sofya' factor though she could be the dawn of a new Malaysian Malaysia but pursue the sinister claim by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to demolish the sham democracy BN has institutionalised.

Patriot1: Now we get to see the sorry state of affairs of political system in the country. The underhand and overboard tactics. The blatant political intimidation and corrupt culture of securing votes.

The EC is totally subservient to the government and has lost all credibility. Former Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan, until the EC is sorted out, our elections will always be a sham exercise.

I love this country and it's the only home I know, despite having traveled extensively. What else can you do to salvage whatever is left of our beautiful country?

Casey: The unbefitting conduct of Zahid amounts to an illegal interference with the process of an election.

His threat issued against a group of voters who are members of Rela - to increase the vote share of Mah, and depress the vote share of Dyana - was an obvious act of vote rigging calculated at influencing the final vote counts and election result.

It is an act of fraud, an illegal interference with the process of an election. It is now the time for the Teluk Intan voters to exercise their sacred votes as the best answer against a reckless leader like Zahid.

This is not a 'Dyana vs Mah' contest; but a tussle between right and wrong; a struggle between liberty and oppression; and a clash between democracy and tyranny.

Louis: EC to act against BN? Ambiga, you are indeed correct that BN has breached so many election rules that EC is too confused on one to act. You must know that most of the officers there are not really intelligent, and many have fallen to zombie status.

If given too many problems to solve, they get confused and do not know where to begin. To make matter worse, their political masters are keeping an eye on them and making them even more confused.

Ex-PJ: Umno sets the rules in this country. Don't waste your time, nothing will come of it.

Anonymous_1396849985: I am sure the EC chairman will not hesitate to act. With a superb track record of honesty and integrity, he will act immediately without prompting. He's always fantastically independent and reliable. Great man. Best in history. However, I am not sure if his parents would be proud of him.

Visu: Now you know why they call Umno ‘celaka’. It breaks all the rules and never gets punished.

Oriole: International bodies such as the UN and its secretary-general Ban Ki Moon should get a copy of this news report so they are clear as to the low level standards being promoted in the UN.

It's not too difficult to send a copy to his office. And Human Rights Watch should get a copy of this as well, especially Phil Robertson who looks into Malaysian issues.

These statements should be documented by local and international bodies as they reflect grave wrongs with governance and the uselessness of both MACC and the Election Commission.

Naatamai: Has Umno/BN won any election based on merit or on a vision of a better country for all Malaysians? Never. It’s always based on intimidation or by throwing "bones" at the taxpayers’ expense.

They ignore a simple rule - the tax that I and others pay, is for the benefit of all Malaysians regardless of their political alliances. It’s not their party funds that they are spending.

Cry, My Beloved Country: An angry face, a threatening finger, says it all. The quick dismissal of criminal intimidation, verbal abuse, destruction of property as "the price to pay" does not wash either.

Desperation knows no bounds or good sense, or even a sense of what is right and wrong. The very reason every voter should get out and vote, as I certainly will, is to send a strong message to the likes of him.

That the ballot box is still open to register condemnation, disgust and rejection without reservation, on all that he has said. Send his candidate home with the loss of deposit.

Malaya: Premier Najib Abdul Razak, please clarify. If what the minister said is untrue, take immediate action to reprimand him for intimidation to show you are still in control, and not on autopilot.

Winning or losing in an election is normal but threatening voters is a crime. Using new uniforms to entice Rela members to vote for BN is a clear and blatant show of money politics, which is also a great crime. This is as good as corruption in an election.

Anonymous #33877536: Don't we know, in Malaysia anything is possible.

My Opinion: Got new Rela uniforms aaah? Can we also get new whistles and new batons? How about promotion for those Rela voters who reach the polling booth before 10am? How about extra allowances?

B oonpou: More and more frustrated, restless, and extremist Umno leaders are not only breaking the democratic election creeds but think they can get away with it. Umno is a sinking ship and their leaders are desperate.

Fortunately for them, the EC, the police, the Judiciary, Rela, and their extremists NGOs are rallying to try to ensure the sinking ship sinks slower.

But it is inevitable. Every new day the rakyat is witnessing new actions and speeches from Umno and their racist components that are seeking to tear this nation apart. This is so that the government can declare a state of emergency (like Thailand) in order to put a stop to any rational opposition to its staying in power.

But the majority of the rakyat will not be fooled by their immoral tactics. We shall survive and move towards a better Malaysia. Power to the rakyat.

Moonraker: The Umno racists are in a fix. More and more, the DAP has been winning Malay support and has been fielding Malay candidates. It has won in constituencies with a strong Malay presence (remember Lim Kit Siang's win over Ghani Othman in a BN stronghold?)

And the DAP has supported Malay leaders from other parties in Pakatan. For instance, in Perak, a menteri besar from PAS.

In 1972, a DAP MP said at a forum in a university that the mass media had blacked out the DAP's efforts at raising issues affecting Malays (the ordinary Malays were already being exploited by the Umno leaders then but were told by such leaders that the non-Malays were the source of their problems).

But now things are different with credible social media active and the mainstream media discredited.

This evil, corrupt, and oppressive regime must go but, before it does, it will be desperate enough to try even dirtier tactics so as to remain in power. Let us not see a civil war in which all would suffer.

Hang Babeuf: Whether Zahid knows how people voted and, if so, whether the EC told him, is a secondary matter. The main point is this: whatever his knowledge or lack of it, this statement in itself constitutes an attempt to intimidate a group of voters. As such it is, and ought to be treated in itself, as a criminal offence.

My Opinion: If he knows who did not vote, he breaks the law. If he doesn’t know, then he is a blatant liar.


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