The Election Commission's (EC) main task is to carry out its constitutional mandate to conduct free, fair and clean elections and the focus should not be overtaken by other sideline issues, said DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang.

"The EC should not be allowed to deflect attention, whether through issues like Akujanji (I pledge) for candidates or letting NGOs contest in elections, from proper accounting in carrying out its constitutional mandate to conduct free, fair and clean elections," he said in a statement today.

Lim said while there should be no bar o­n NGOs wishing to contest in elections, the issue seemed to be a contrived o­ne as there has yet to be any demand from any NGO to contest in elections.

Own symbols

In a recent interview with a Malay daily, EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said NGOs such as MTUC and the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) could field candidates under their own banners.

This move, he added, was in anticipation that certain individuals might want to contest under the banner of the entities they lead rather than as independents or candidates of opposition parties as had been the practice in the past.

The registration with the commission by NGOs will also include registering their own symbols, he said.

Lim also noticed conflicting views between Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi o­n the NGO issue.

"Mahathir said NGOs must register as political parties in order to contest in elections while Abdullah said NGOs should not be allowed to function as a political party as both play a different role in society," he noted .

Akujanji for EC

Touching o­n the EC's proposal to make it compulsory for candidates to sign a pledge or Akujanji to ensure smooth and incident-free campaigning before contesting in the elections, Lim suggested that Abdul Rashid and his officers set an example by signing a similar pledge.

He said EC staffs should pledge to conduct a free, fair and clean elections before requiring candidates and political parties to sign their pledges.

"There should be a mechanism where the EC chairperson, members and officers could be publicly called to account if they fail this Akujanji pledge to conduct free, fair and clean elections," he said.

He said if the EC is serious in wanting to ensure free, fair and clean electoral campaigns, the Akujanji pledge proposed for candidates should be comprehensive enough to provide for the disqualification of candidates who are involved, directly or indirectly, in unfair electoral practices like money politics, abuse of government machinery and resources, and unfair media practices.

He added that o­nce Parliament is dissolved during a general election, cabinet ministers should not abuse government positions, machinery, resources and funds for any electioneering purpose for a political party.

For this, he urged the EC to draw up a code of conduct for a caretaker government in the interim of the election campaign after dissolution of Parliament to ensure that it does not abuse its powers and be a major contributor of unfair and dishonest electoral practices.

He said this should be o­ne of the EC's main agenda in its meeting with all political parties scheduled for Thursday.

Double standard

Meanwhile, the yet-to-be-registered Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) said it is rather amused by the suggestion that NGOs registered under the Societies Act could contest in the general election o­n condition that they are registered with the EC.

Its pro tem secretary general S Arutchevan pointed out that there are more than 20 political parties which have applied for registration but their applications have either been put in cold storage or rejected outright.

"Meanwhile parties linked to the ruling party like SPDP in Sarawak and SAPP, PDS and PBRS in Sabah were registered within days of their application.

"This is the double standard of the Registrar of Societies under the guidance and control of the Home Ministry," he alleged.

Arutchelvan recalled that PSM applied for registration o­n May 1, 1998 at the time Mahathir challenged NGOs to form political parties if they want to oppose the ruling party.

"We have taken that challenge and yet our registration has been rejected citing technical and national security reasons."

He said PSM is convinced that the Registrar of Society as well as the Home Ministry have lost all credibility and fair play when it comes to the registration of political parties.

"The registration of political parties should be left in the hands of the EC and not ROS," Arutchelvan added.