Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was among the Umno leaders and party workers who had allegedly bought votes during the Pengkalan Pasir by-election , claimed an election petitioner.

PAS Kelantan Youth secretary Mohd Ridza Zain made the allegations against Najib, who is also Umno's deputy president, in the petition he filed yesterday on behalf of PAS whose candidate Hanifa Ahmad lost to rival Umno's Hanafi Mamar in the Dec 6 by-election.

He claimed that Najib gave money to voters in one of his many official visits in the constituency and had also lured voters with promises of development in the event of BN wining the crucial by-election.

"Najib and his entourage had gone to the house of (voter) Zulkifli Mamat at Kampung Pauh and given him RM500 before reminding him to vote for the dacing ." (weighing scale - the logo of the Barisan Nasional coalition which Umno is the dominant member)."

In addition, Mohd Ridza claimed that Najib, who is also the defence minister, issued a warning to army personnel not to vote PAS.

Most army personnel registered their votes by postal ballot in their respective camps. According to the final tally, an overwhelming majority of their votes had gone to Umno, and without the postal ballots, PAS would have won marginally.

Mohd Ridza also claimed that Najib had breached the section 10(c) of the Election Offences Act 1954 when he promised to build a new wet market should BN clinch victory.

The offence was allegedly committed during a ceramah (political gathering) held on Dec 2, 2005 - four days before the by-election's nomination day.

Another high-profile Umno leader mentioned in the legal suit - where BN's winning candidate Hanafi Mamat, election officer Abdul Halim Ahmad and the Election Commission are named as respondents - was Umno's Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein Onn.

"The Umno Youth chief, who is also the education minister, had warned all teachers not to support the PAS candidate," said the petitioner.

The Dec 6 by-election saw victory for BN's Hanafi Mamat who defeated Hanifa with a tissue-thin majority of 134 votes. This triggered an automatic recount of the votes given that the winning margin fell below two percent.

The recount was held the next day with the BN candidate officially being declared the winner.

The by-election was called following the death of PAS incumbent Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Jaafar on Oct 31. He had defeated Hanafi at the 2004 general election by a mere 56 votes.

The lost of the seat means that PAS, which has been ruling Kelantan since 1990, has only 23 seats in the state assembly - only one more than BN's 22.

The petition, among others, sought the court to declare the Dec 6 results as "null and void".

Phantom voters

Mohd Ridza also presented detailed evidence to support the party's contention on the existence of phantom voters or voters' impersonation involving five voters at the by-election. Among the allegations cited were:

  • The records showed that one Fatimah Mahmood voted at SK Sultan Ibrahim when she was actually away in Grik, Perak visiting one of her children

  • A voter, Yusof Harun, was denied voting when he went to SK Tanjung Chenak at 1pm on polling day after being told that someone else had voted under his name.

    • The petitioner also claimed that BN had bought a large group of Chinese voters dinner at the SRJK (Cina) Yuk Eng in Pasir Mas with the intention of influencing them to support its candidate.

    Mohd Ridza also alleged that Hanafi and his party workers had launched several personal attacks against the PAS candidate and the ruling Islamic party, adding that these offence were committed through flyers, posters and ceramah throughout the 10-day campaign period.

    In supporting his petition against the second respondent Abdul Halim, the PAS leader claimed that the election officer had barred aged voters, Marian Abdul Ghani, Esah Mamat and Fatimah Daud, from entering the voting stream in SK Datuk Abdul Hamid with the assistance of their respective children.

    The alleged incident took place despite that the three voters had filled the necessary forms as required under the election regulations.

    The petition will be heard by a High Court judge and the court has six months to decide on the case.

    If the petition fails, an appeal can to be made to the Federal Court within 14 days of the election judge's judgment.

    The Federal Court, which has also six months to complete its hearing and decide on the appeal, will be the final authority on the matter.