The Coalition for Clean and Free Elections (Bersih) has condemned the red paint attack on Election Commission chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman’s house this morning.

Contacted by Malaysiakini , Bersih steering committee member and Subang parliamentary seat candidate R Sivarasa expressed his concern over the incident.

"Bersih condemns all acts of violence and intimidation against any private or public person," he said. However, he added the coalition finds the comments of Abdul Rashid that the attack was ‘politically-motivated’ as inappropriate.

abdul rashid ec chairman house red paint splashed 060308 repaint "We find it inappropriate for Abdul Rashid to have already drawn the conclusion that it was politically motivated without any actual investigation having taken place yet.

"It could be a set up by supporters of Barisan Nasional in attempt to tarnish the reputation of the opposition parties," he said.

Abdul Rashid said he woke up at 7.30am this morning and discovered bright red paint all over the gate and external walls of his Bukit Pantai bungalow house.

He told reporters that he thought the act was politically-motivated as some quarters were angry at him for scrapping the use of indelible ink for Saturday’s polls.

Sivarasa stressed that Abdul Rashid’s decision to cancel the use indelible ink had created a lot of anger from all the opposition parties and one of the ruling coalition’s party, the MCA.

"He should await the outcome of the investigations before drawing more conclusions," the lawyer asserted.

Act deplored

Abdul Rashid had announced the cancellation on Tuesday, citing issues relating to the federal constitution and a purported plot to mark voters with smuggled ink ahead of polls.

Despite knowing that use of the ink had yet to be legislated, the EC had accepted the proposal last July and even proceeded to buy some 45,000 bottles of indelible ink from India at a cost of RM2.4 million.

abdul rashid ec chairman house red paint splashed 060308 pissed As recently as Feb 25, EC Secretary Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor had confidently declared that the ink would be used in the upcoming elections.

Bersih reiterated that there is absolutely no basis whatsoever for the cancellation of the ink’s use.

"He (Abdul Rashid) [ pix ]has misled the electorate since June and to pull the plug on it with ludicrous reasons invites the inference that the EC is wilfully creating opportunities for fraudulent practices to occur," Sivarasa said.

In a separate statement, opposition party PKR also condemned the paint attack on Abdul Rashid’s house.

"Elections must be held in an atmosphere of peace and integrity, and we deplore this act of provocative intimidation. We hope the police will succeed in arresting the culprits quickly, " said its deputy president, Dr Syed Husin Ali.