The Election Commission chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman has conceded that his organisation's ability to carry out its task independently has been hampered by the government.

"Whether the EC is seen to be independent ... depends on one important fact: how tolerant is the ruling party? In most Western countries, the party in power is tolerant. They take criticism openly. Here, we have not come to that level," he told malaysiakini in an exclusive interview .

Abdul Rashid, who has 30 years of experience in organising elections, lamented that the federal constitution is silent on the commission's independence.

"You look at the constitution, what does it say? That there shall be a commission that enjoys the public confidence. It does not say 'an independent commission," he said.

Abdul Rashid said no election commission in the world can truly be independent as it is very difficult for the body to "escape from the government of the day" when carrying out its tasks.

He added that while the government does not necessarily put pressure on his commission, it was nevertheless difficult for the EC to implement "anything without having to be interfered (by the government)".

Puteri Umno scandal

The independence of the EC - a body tasked with the impartial management of free and fair elections - is being questioned by the opposition.

The EC is currently embroiled in a controversy where it was accused of colluding with Puteri Umno - the young women's wing of the ruling party - in hiring some of its members as temporary poll workers for the upcoming general election, which is due before the end of next year.

Abdul Rashid also lamented that the difficulties he faced in bringing reforms to the electoral system.

"We put our proposals to the AG (attorney-general), (it goes) to cabinet, then to parliament. It will get stuck somewhere along the way. So how can we propose a draft here and send it to parliament. I think the system will not allow that."

The 60-year-old top civil servant also expressed his frustration of not being able to speak openly about such attempts.

"I also cannot go to the world and say that I proposed these and got rejected. By doing so, I will be fighting the government which I should not be doing. Not that I am afraid to get knocked off - I didn't ask for this job, I was invited to handle this job, not because they like my face, but maybe because I have the experience," he said.

Unfair system

Speaking on the country's electoral system, Abdul Rashid readily admitted that the first-past-the -post system which was inherited by the British is not fair as it marginalises the smaller parties.

He said there are better systems such as the proportionate election system (where parties will get seats in proportion to the number of votes secured) as practised in most European countries.

However, Abdul Rashid argued that the British system has done some good to Malaysia as it provides for a stable government.

"We are happy because whatever it is, we have got a responsible government. Put aside abuses. Of course, there is plenty of that. You can write 20, 30, 40 books on many kinds of abuse. That is bound to happen when you have power. Power leads to abuse and corruption. But in spite of all these, we managed our country very well," he said.

The EC chief, who was also frank in expressing his political views during the two-hour interview, complained that the Malays had voted with their 'emotions' in the last general election.

"There was a lot of emotions! It was the time he (jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim) was just charged (for corruption and sodomy). It was the reformasi time... it worked up people's feelings," he said.

Abdul Rashid commended Chinese voters for being 'rational' and he attributed this to better education.

"They know what needs to be considered when exercising their voting rights. We would like to have the whole country having this kind of attitude. I like talking to them (Chinese voters), I go down to talk to them... They are very secretive (about their votes), which means they do their calculation first," he quipped.

In the 1999 general election, Umno tumbled to one of its worst electoral performances - losing 16 parliamentary seats including those of four ministers and five deputy ministers - as a result of widespread disaffection among Malay voters.

Abdul Rashid was involved in organising four previous general elections, and the coming polls will be his first foray as EC boss.

Tomorrow: Caretaker government's abuse of resources