The Election Commission (EC) today vowed that the Jan 28 Batu Talam by-election in Pahang will be fair and transparent.

The assurance from EC secretary Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor comes amid allegations from the opposition that elections in Malaysia are not conducted on a level playing field.

Kamaruzaman said the Barisan Nasional (BN) and independent candidates for Batu Talam would be involved in the election process including sorting and counting of postal votes.

"We are transparent and open, even sorting of postal votes will be witnessed by the candidates..don't worry the EC is open," he told Bernama .

He said the returning officer would first have to notify candidates at least within 24 hours after the period of withdrawal for candidates ends, that is at noon the next day to announce the date for sorting of postal votes to 14 voters at the Batu Talam state constituency.

At the same time, he said the contesting candidates would also be involved in monitoring the campaign process together with the election enforcement taskforce.

"Candidates work together with the EC, we move as a team, as such there would not be any wild allegations," he added.

Courses and training

Kamaruzaman said the staff would also be attending courses and training to ensure the smooth running of the election process.

He said the EC would also adopt a friendly approach among the workforce at 23 polling streams at 12 polling centres to promote teamwork and avoid mistakes.

The state seat under the Raub parliamentary constituency fell vacant following the death of BN incumbent Tengku Paris Tengku Razlan on Dec 27 due to cancer.

BN candidate Abd Aziz Mat Kiram, 47 is being challenged by an independent candidate, 22-year- old trader, Ng Chee Pang.

The opposition have boycotted the polls with the aim of pressing for electoral reforms but EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman had dismissed this as being 'political games'.

Batu Talam has 10,525 registered voters, of whom 79 percent are Malays, 11 percent Chinese and 10 percent made up of Indian and Orang Asli voters.