I refer to the letter Pengerusi SPR tiada pilihan kecuali letak jawatan . Added to this are the recent comments by the opposition parties questioning the Election Commission's neutrality. Under such circumstances, it is incumbent upon the EC, especially its chairperson, to come forward and attend to such complaints quickly and in a transparent manner. After all, Malaysia's democratic process is under scrutiny not only by us, but by the whole world.

For more than 15 years now, the electoral roll has been questioned by the opposition parties (strange that the ruling party has not made any comments). Todate, I believe the EC has done nothing about it. This itself reflects badly on the EC.

Moreover, the time given for campaigning for a national election is less than two weeks! Why? If I remember rightly, it was Umno/BN which decided on this period. Why should the EC take orders from Umno/BN? Doesn't this bring into question the EC's neutrality?

It is alright if the election is only for one constituency as in this case at Bukit Talam recently. But in a national general election, an appropriate period would be about one month after nomination closes. The nomination period should also be at least for about 14 days for the parties to finalise their list of candidates.

The one-month campaigning period is for candidates and their parties to put forward their views and proposals on issues and how they would govern the country. They may also want to criticise or comment on their opponent parties' views and records. This is to ensure that the rakyat gets to hear various views, comments and proposals on what the candidates would do if elected.

With the present state of affairs, the ruling party will suddenly spring an announcement that they have dissolved parliament and are calling for fresh elections. On top of this, prior to the elections, the ruling party members are to be seen going round the country in their official capacity and at the same time canvassing for votes. In other words, at the government's expense.

These sort of tactics have to end if democracy is not only to be practiced but seen to be practiced in Malaysia.