Opposition party Keadilan today also rejected the 2004 general election results and called for fresh polls and a royal commission to be set-up if prime minister-elect Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government wishes to be seen as legitimate.

Keadilan has echoed calls by opposition parties PAS and DAP for the Election Commission (EC) to take full responsibility for the improper conduct of the 2004 elections, and for its chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman to step down.

"We cannot fully accept the validity of the election results. We call for fresh elections to be held, as I am ready to stand for a new election," said Keadilan president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail ( photo, in red, centre )

She said that despite complaints by Keadilan prior to the elections that the voters' roll was not 'clean', the EC proceeded with the March 21 polling.

This proved that the commission - which is tasked with the impartial management of free and fair general elections - was neither efficient nor prepared to do a proper job, she said.

On Monday, following nervous rounds of re-counts, Wan Azizah was declared the winner of the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat - formerly held by her jailed husband and ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim - by a slim 590 majority.

The rest of her party was routed by the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, but some Keadilan leaders were earlier disqualified from contesting in the general election.

With Keadilan and PAS losing most of their seats to BN, Abdullah has claimed that the tidal wave of support as signals a clear mandate from the people for his administration.

Elements of fraud

In her statement today, Wan Azizah rejected the outcome of the polls, alleging that scores of individuals were denied the right to vote due to irregularities like their names not being found at their polling stations, or they being transferred to other constituencies or states without prior knowledge.

Other cases of electoral fraud have also occurred, including where voters were caught casting more than one ballot, she alleged, adding some home addresses were listed as recording over 100 voters.

According to election watchdogs , households in most peninsular constituencies are not expected to have more than five voting individuals.

Keadilan also alleged they were issued three different sets of electoral rolls for this year's polls each dated March 3, 15 and 21, 2004, when in fact there should only be one.

All three lists were inconsistent with each other, said the party's secretary Mustaffa Kamil Ayub ( photo ) when met.

Keadilan is also uncomfortable with the EC's decision to extend the voting hours in Selangor by two hours, a move which it claims was improperly announced at the very last minute.

"We are not sure where the law stands (on extending the polling hours until 7pm), but certainly the way they announced it - at around 5pm - was questionable," said Mustaffa.

"This is not to say that Keadilan cannot accept defeat. The point here is that the opposition does not recognise the legitimacy of the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration, and we have strong evidence of irregular conduct," he said.

"In certain state assembly constituencies in Terengganu for example, there was a 98.3% voter turnout, when the average is usually 60 to 70%. What does this mean? What is happening with our electoral system?"

'People's investigation'

Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua ( photo ) said: "We will not participate in any more elections so long as there is no reform. So clean out the problems and show transparency. Otherwise, it looks like you have a lot to hide."

Meanwhile, said Mustaffa, the party will proceed on its own on two fronts to pursue a "people's investigation" by holding nationwide consultations to collect evidence of fraud and to put forward a petition to the courts.

The legal petition, he said, will deal particularly with the strong evidence of irregularities such as one voter casting more than one ballot.