TELUK INTAN The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) should investigate Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over statements he made while campaigning in the Teluk Intan by-election yesterday, said Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming.

 

“This is to determine if he has conducted an offence under Section 5 of the Election Offences Act 1954 (Maintenance of Secrecy of a Vote) since he claims to be able to know whether a person has voted or not.

 

“Does this also mean that he is able to determine how a person has voted? Did he request the Election Commission (EC) to supply him with this information?

"And is he using this ‘knowledge’ as a threat against Rela members who may not vote for the BN candidate?” he said in a statement today.

 

Ong ( left ) also urged the AGC to investigate Zahid for bribery, which is an offence under Section 10 of the same Act.

 

In a speech to Rela members yesterday Zahid said there are 8,000 Rela members who are Teluk Intan voters, but over 2,000 of them did not vote .

 

“Don't play-play with me. I know who has voted and who didn't…so, this time, make sure that BN wins this parliamentary seat,” he said.

 

He also promised members of Rela new uniforms if BN won the by-election and a RM1 million constituency allocation if voters backed BN candidate Mah Siew Keong.

 

“The failure of the attorney-general to act quickly and decisively in response to the remarks of Zahid Hamidi will only further increase the public perception that the office of the attorney-general only acts when it is in the interest of the BN government,” Ong added.

'Slew of election offences'

Meanwhile, electoral reform group Bersih said Zahid had abused his position by threatening Rela members, noting that this was on top of a slew of other election offences recorded in the Teluk Intan by-election.

"In his statement he had confirmed an alarming information that most of us fear may be happening - ballots are not secret.

"Bersih demands that the Najib-government takes this seriously and end all violations of the sovereignty and privacy of the voters and their votes," Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah ( left ) said in a statement to Malaysiakini .

Maria said Zahid had violated Section 9(1) of the Election Offences Act 1954 by exerting undue influence on voters.

Section 9 (1) of the Act deems if an offence if a person compels, induces or prevails upon any voter either to give or refrain from giving vote at any election.

Maria said Bersih also noted reports of BN purportedly handing out hampers worth about RM150 each to families at Nova Scotia Estate, and Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek promising better broadband services if BN wins on May 31.

These, she said, were in violation of Section 8 of the Act for treating and Section 10 for bribery.

Section 8 of the Act states it is an offence to provide or pay for food, refreshment, money or provisions for the purpose of corruptly influencing a person's vote, while Section 10 states it is an offence to offer valuable consideration before or after the election in order to influence voters.

Maria also took the EC to task for allowing BN to use state-owned premises for campaigning in reference to Umno's ceramah at SK Selabak on May 20.

"Rules and regulations seemed to be shifting goal posts and they are introduced at the whims and fancies of the EC," she said, adding that EC must spell out the specific regulations it based its approval on for the ceramah.

"State-owned premises, equipment, transport, or any properties or machineries cannot be used during campaign period by candidates especially when it is only offered or utilised by only one particular political party.

"If EC had wanted to offer government-owned premises during campaign period, it has to be offered to all and this must be made known to the public," she said.