Pakatan Rakyat (PKR) candidate for Penanti by-election Mansor Othman has taken the Election Commission (EC) to task for disallowing candidates to erect electoral booths or ‘pondok panas', outside polling station on voting day.

penanti by election pkr candidate dr mansor othman nomination 290409 06

Mansor (on far right) , who is also the party's Penang deputy leader, said he could not comprehend the EC's objective in opposing electoral candidates from setting up such booths.

He dismissed arguments raised by EC and a local election watchdog - Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel) - that such booths raised the possibility of active electoral campaign on polling day.

Cool-off period

He said the booths were not to canvass votes but to compliment EC and provide an electoral service to voters to cast their ballots without much hassle.

"It's a free service provided by candidates to all voters. I don't understand why the EC wants to stop this," Mansor, also the party national election deputy director, told Malaysiakini today.

Nonetheless, he came short in revealing whether or not PKR would set up the electoral booths. mansor othman interview 300409 03

With the absence of Umno candidate, Mansor (right) is likely to face several independent candidates, including former PKR state women chief Aminah Abdullah and businessman Mohd Saberi Othman, an ex-aide to former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

EC has disallowed candidates from setting up electoral booths within 50 metre of polling stations.

Instead, the commission has allowed candidates to set up information counters, which unlike electoral booths, cannot display any campaign materials such as banners, streamers, posters or flags.

Candidates and their election workers are also disallowed to distribute pamphlets, fliers, and water bottles reflecting their electoral campaign.

PKR has officially objected the ban on the booths, recalling that EC banned them in the 2004 general election, only to lift it before the polling day without informing non-Barisan Nasional parties.

Subsequently, the then opposition party Barisan Alternatif did not erect any ‘pondok panas' while Barisan Nasional did, taking full advantage of the lifting of the ban.

EC head Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof has justified the move was to prevent candidates and their supporters from canvassing for votes and campaigning on polling day in the Penanti by-election by allowing a cooling-off period for voters to make their choice.

Face-off with independents

Polling falls on 31 May while nomination is tomorrow.

The EC has allowed a full campaign period from the nomination day until midnight eve of polling day.

Mafrel stated that Malaysia was the only democracy in the world that allowed active campaigning on balloting day.

Mansor, however, assured that he and PKR would refrain from active campaign on polling day.

Mansor called on EC and Mafrel not to construe mere expression of support to a particular candidate by supporters -- or campaign workers calling on voters to cast their ballots on polling day -- as active campaign.

"It's part of democracy to allow supporters to freely express support and woo voters to come out and vote," he said.