DAP may have won the Sibu polls but its veteran leader Lim Kit Siang wants a public inquiry to establish the cause of the delay in tallying the votes last night.

He noted that SUPP and BN leaders knew at about 8.30pm that they had failed to retain the parliamentary seat and had therefore left the counting centre at the Civic Centre.

The announcement of the results was held up for two-and-a-half hours after the postal ballots were counted from 5.30-8.30pm, said Lim in a statement today.

lim kit siang 111204 “Could the Election Commission (EC) blame anyone, including the increasing numbers of outraged Sibuans, for their concern and worry that some plans were afoot to disregard their choice of MP after an intensive by-election campaign?” asked Lim

“I do not believe that Najib (Abdul Razak) was involved in any attempt to manipulate the by-election, but he is responsible as prime minister and BN (head) to ensure that his subordinates in SUPP and Sarawak BN do not conduct themselves in any fashion giving rise to such suspicions.”

The EC has denied that it had wanted to manipulate the outcome in favour of the BN, and has blamed the DAP instead.

Chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof had said he regrets the attitude of several opposition leaders from outside Sarawak, who did not observe decorum when they were at the vote tallying centre.

"They were trying to show they could do anything they liked without any regard as to the rules to be observed when votes are being tallied,” he claimed.