EC wants greater powers to counter negative view

comments     Claudia Theophilus     Published     Updated

The Election Commission is pushing for wider enforcement powers to counter the public's long-standing negative perception over the conduct of elections in the country.

EC secretary Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said today the current perception is that the commission has not done enough to address the alleged breaches of election laws that are brought to its attention.

"So, we felt it was high time we get wider enforcement powers which we have been requesting all this while so that we can immediately act against any breach of election laws.

"We had wanted to react in the past but matters were not too serious at that time. Furthermore, the offences then were more criminal in nature, for the police to act.

"What we want now is for us to be able to act against out-of-control behaviour, such as those seen in Pendang (the recent by-election in Kedah).

"That was our most recent experience and it was pretty bad. Some people had gone overboard," he said when contacted.

He also denied that the EC's decision to push for additional powers was a knee-jerk reaction to statements by political parties and government leaders over the past week.

Urgent changes

Citing media reports on the alleged violence and posing with 'seditious' campaign materials from Pendang, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last week called for urgent changes to election campaign rules.

PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat supported the call but wanted all political parties to be consulted first on the setting up of the election monitoring unit proposed by the EC.

The unit, one of the proposals made in a special meeting on Tuesday, will comprise EC officials, the police, candidates and party representatives.

On police having the necessary enforcement powers to act against election offences, Wan Ahmad said the police "already had too much to do such as crowd control, checking out ceramah (political talks) premises and traffic dispersal".

He said 'minor' offences related to posters and ceramah content including seditious remarks can be taken care of by the proposed unit.

"Details on the enforcement will be known after our discussion with the Attorney-General, [minister in the prime minister's department] Dr Rais Yatim and the police."

Asked why he thought Pendang was bad compared to all the previous by-elections, he said there were racist remarks being made and religious sensitivities were not respected.

Wan Ahmad said the EC obtains feedback from various sources including views from non-governmental organisations, political parties and academicians which are published in the media.

"We also received two memorandums over the Pendang by-election," he added, but declined to disclose any details.

Unfair campaign practices

Last April, several opposition parties, frustrated by the "unfair campaign practices" of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, asked the EC to set up an all-party committee to ensure free, fair and clean elections.

They also requested the EC to study the possibility of setting up a register for political campaign donations, claiming the BN candidate in Pahang's Ketari by-election last March may have spent at least RM20 million for campaign posters, banners and billboards.

Other issues raised was the media blackout of opposition campaigning and the overspending by candidates from BN on campaign materials in excess of the legal limit.

Although the Election Offences Act 1954 caps the campaign expenses at RM30,000 for a state and RM50,000 for a parliamentary seat, opposition parties have consistently claimed that BN candidates splurged millions.

Existing election laws only regulate the conduct of candidates and not that of political parties.

In response, EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman had explained that the commission was powerless in matters outside its jurisdiction due to the enforcement of laws like the Broadcasting Act and the Police Act.



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