YOURSAY 'If the gov't wants the elections to be clean and fair, it is very easy. But it won't be done as BN will have to kiss its stranglehold on power goodbye.'

Ex-chief: Electoral roll not up to mark, but not EC's fault

your say Absalom: If former Election Commission (EC) chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman thinks the electoral roll is clean and the EC deserves high marks, it goes to show that his standards are so low that perhaps he is comparing us with Zimbabwe.

People who voted Pakatan Rakyat (i.e the majority of the electorate) think otherwise and believe that BN has been able to win elections and stay in power by fraud and unfair practices.

They think there is no integrity in the electoral roll, electorate boundaries, the EC and the election itself; that they are all designed to keep BN perpetually in power with as little as 30 percent of popular votes.

If the government wants the elections to be clean and fair, it is very easy. Just set up a consortium of audit firms to do the entire process, including standardising the size of constituencies. I think the process will not only be clean but can be done with a smaller budget.

But it won't be done, simply because that would mean BN kisses its stranglehold on power goodbye.

Maplesyrup: I am appalled by Abdul Rashid's 27 years' experience in EC - how can he declare that the electoral roll is clean, while in the same breath describe the roll as neither accurate nor comprehensive?

The EC cannot blame the system, because they are the system. They complain that the powers are in the hands of the government of the day, and they are powerless to change for better. If so, the EC should be agonised by this.

But what I see is that the EC chief and his team of cohorts are enjoying themselves as bedfellows with BN.

Slumdog: Abdul Rashid served 27 years as the EC chief. So what did he do while he was the head honcho when he knew all these problems existed?

Now that he has retired, he has suddenly found his voice to complain and make excuses about the deficiencies in the electoral system. All he needed to do was jump on a plane to Australia or New Zealand to study and observe for himself how well the electoral systems in those countries work.

The opposition parties and NGOs must start putting pressure on the government now to address the inadequacies of the electoral system and not wait until the eleventh hour to complain to the EC.

Malaya: Abdul Rashid said the electoral roll is considered clean, but added that it does not fulfil international standards because it is neither "comprehensive, inclusive, accurate, up-to-date", nor is the process "fully transparent".

What nonsense is he talking? If the EC found that there are shortcomings in the election roll, why must it wait and not bring it up to Parliament for rectification? All the EC leaders are highly paid and all these screw-ups could have been cleared up long ago.

To the rakyat, the EC is indeed to be blame for not putting things right.

DevilsSlaughter : Here is a clown talking. How come the EC is not to be blamed when they are put in charge?

And so much advice has been given but the EC just goes on ignoring them. If a company's business is bad, is it not because of the poor management?

MockingYou: The EC should be independent. Abdul Rashid failed to mention specifically why there is a need for the EC to have more teeth. Instead, they should just repeal section 9A of the Election Act 1958.

Mayvbwell: Rashid, please explain with your 27 years of experience in EC how one house address can accumulate more than 100 names? I can help you with one answer - not by nature, but by manipulation. Period.

Does one need more power/laws to resolve this, or does it take just common sense?

Hplooi: The EC is a 'gatekeeper' whose chief role was to keep Umno in power, whatever it takes. but unfortunately for them, the original aim has been overtaken by ends which endanger the very sovereignty of the nation via Project M, originally confined to Sabah but now extended to the peninsula.

Senior Q?: . Abdul Rashid is suggesting automatic registration using the National Registration Department? If they have a lot of foreigners who become instant citizens in an election year, what can be done then?

Anonymous_3e86 : What powers does EC need if it doesn't admit that BN plays money politics to bribe the poor kampung folks? What powers does it need if it does BN bidding to ensure its existence in Putrajaya?

Onyourtoes: Be very careful to give more power to the EC if it has no independence. Since when were voters not voting in the constituencies they live in a big issue?

Gerrymandering and malapportionment is already so acute in this country. Voters should be allowed to vote in whichever constituencies to counter the manipulation that has been going on for years. Otherwise, the concentration of voters will become worse.

Boiling Mud: EC, your inaction to fine tune the necessary election laws in Parliament makes you an accomplice and in cahoots with the party desperately clinging to power in this shameless sham.

The public is right to demand the resignation of the current crop of election officers. No matter how much whitewashing, the EC has consistently failed the electorate in all those general elections gone by. Shame on you.

JBond: Abdul Rashid is another Umno deadwood talking. I thought we have the best and cleanest electoral roll in the universe? We are sick and tired of excuses. Umno is the root cause of the EC's problems so the removal of the party is the only way.

Vijay47: Let me see now. The inspector-general of police says the police is doing a great job. This is echoed by the leader of Transparency International-Malaysia.

The head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission says that his organisation is excellent in carrying out its duties and meeting targets, though I must say the police meets their targets better.

The prime minister says our country has the best democracy in the whole world. And now the former EC chief, for whom you may remember - they actually changed the constitution of the country to delay his retirement age - has emerged to claim that our EC is also the cat's whiskers.

Wow! And to think that all along I had been believing that I was living in Malaysia.

Nes: Abdul Rashid is the same guy who while he was in office once said that only BN is capable of being the government. What more can we say?

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