EC: No ban on posters, but don't go 'crazy'
There is no ban on the use of posters as campaign material during elections, clarified Election Commission (EC) chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman today.
However, he said the commission will look into ways of discouraging the practice which amounted to a whopping RM110 million during the 2004 general elections.
"I will advise them not to
gila-gila
(go crazy) with putting up posters," he told reporters at his office in Putrajaya.
Abdul Rashid earlier met a delegation from opposition party DAP over the issue.
Deeming the practice as unnecessary, he said research is already underway to determine how best to regulate the use of posters, banners and bunting.
Previously, it was reported that the EC was devising modern methods, inspired by those practised abroad, to allow candidates to introduce themselves to the voters more effectively.
Coming soon
Any amendments to the election rules will require the approval of Parliament.
As such, the new policy would not come into effect in time for the Sarawak polls, which Abdul Rashid said was 'coming soon'.
Preparations for the state polls, including the chartering of helicopters and boats, had been arranged by the EC at an estimated cost of RM31 million.
A total of 895,254 individuals will be eligible to cast their votes in Sarawak's most expensive election to date.
According to a high-ranking government source, elections are expected in May, a month before the soccer World Cup.
'No powers'
Abdul Rashid also reduced the EC's estimate of the amount spent by political parties during the recent Pengkalan Pasir by-election from RM4 mil as previously reported to RM3.5mil.
He revealed that a sum of the money was used for infrastructural purposes such as the construction of proper drains.
In one incident, he said a stretch of dirt road in a village there was upgraded into a tarred road in preparation for a visit by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohammad.
Meanwhile, asked about his meeting with the DAP representatives this morning, Abdul Rashid said much of the discussion was centered on curbing money politics.
"The laws are there, but we are not the enforcement authority," he added.
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