EC backs calls to allow it to crack the whip on election offences
Acting Election Commission (EC) chairperson Azmi Sharom has backed suggestions by NGOs to amend the Election Offences Act 1954 so that the EC can crack the whip against offenders during an election.
Azmi said under the current law, the EC must refer alleged election offences to the police and the MACC for action.
Acting Election Commission (EC) chairperson Azmi Sharom has backed suggestions by NGOs to amend the Election Offences Act 1954 so that the EC can crack the whip against offenders during an election.
Azmi said under the current law, the EC must refer alleged election offences to the police and the MACC for action.
"We must be clear that the power to take action lies with the police and MACC, not the EC. Many do not know this.
"An EC officer does not have much power to take action, and this is something we need to take seriously.
"We welcome the initiatives to review the Election Offences Act 1954 and provide more power to the EC," he told journalists after attending a workshop on election offences.
Bersih chairperson Thomas Fann, whose electoral reform group organised the workshop, said the government should look into amending the law as it was outdated.
"The Act does not cover new situations nowadays, for example, there is no law on social media in 1954," he said.
He added that the Election Offences Act 1954 is also vague on treating during an election.
"Another issue is that it does not give power to the EC officers and a lot of politicians blame the EC officers (for not acting on election offences).
"But truthfully, according to the law, the EC does not have powers to take action," he said.
Fann said discussions about reforming the law had been ongoing since February 2019 and hopes the government will improve the Act.
On a separate matter, Azmi said he was confident that elections could be conducted without giving rise to new Covid-19 clusters if everyone followed the standard operating procedures (SOP).
This is ahead by the Slim by-election on August 29, and the upcoming Sabah snap polls which are due within 60 days from the dissolution of the state assembly on July 30.
"I am confident that if all EC officers know their duty and if the public assists and cooperate with us, we can hold an election without having a (Covid-19) cluster from elections," he said.
Azmi said the EC already has experience on the SOP to curb the spread of Covid-19 from the Chini by-election.
"We will follow the SOP set out by the Health Ministry, and we have already practised them during the Chini by-election, and we will also use them in Slim and Sabah," he said.
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