SANDAKAN POLLS | Electoral reforms watchdog Bersih has questioned if the Election Commission had appointed Lajim Ukin, a veteran politician, as an official observer of the Sandakan by-election.

Lajim, who has been with a string of parties, is now a member of Bersatu.

In a statement today, Bersih said election observers should not be anyone aligned to political parties, let alone politicians linked to contesting parties.

Bersih said that this was the standard set out in the Declaration of Global Principles for Non-Partisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations (Venice Commission).

"The importance of having non-partisan observers for elections cannot be overstated, as observers have to evaluate the overall integrity of the election process, and their reports can add or diminish legitimacy to the result of elections.

"Can politically-partisan politicians be neutral observers?" asked Bersih.

Lajim was spotted at the nomination centre yesterday wearing an EC T-shirt with a name tag denoting him as an election observer.

 Bersih said that if Lajim or any politicians were appointed as observers, then the EC has to explain the basis for doing so.

"Bersih lauds the openness of EC since GE14 in appointing many local citizen groups and NGOs, including Bersih 2.0, as part of their observer programme, but they must not tarnish the integrity of the programme and undermine the neutrality of the EC by appointing politically-active politicians as election observers," its statement read.

Typically, election management bodies invite foreign and domestic observers to critique the electoral process and provide suggestions on how to meet international standards.

The Sandakan by-election was triggered when Pakatan Harapan incumbent Stephen Wong passed away on March 28. 

The May 11 by-election will see a five-cornered fight, between Wong's daughter Vivian, Parti Bersatu Sabah's Linda Tsen, and three independent candidates, namely Hamzah Abdullah, Chia Siew Yong and Sulaiman Abdul Samad.