Wednesday, February 20, 2008

B.N flouting Election offences Act with Impunity

The Election Commission cannot be perceived to be neutral if it continues to ignore the infringements of the BN government. On the first occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak implied that the government had to restrain the Kampong Baru Malays from coming out to demonstrate in response to the Hindraf demonstration.
His subtle hint was that such a response would have caused another May 13 incident. On the second occasion, during a meeting with MIC division chairpersons, Najib threatened the Indians not to vote against the government. Both occasions were tantamount to exerting undue influence on the electorate and is in contravention of Election Offences Act 1954, Part 3 Section 9(1).
In addition to the above two offences, a third offence was committed at the launch of the state-level
Chinese New Year open house in Kota Bharu when Najib presented RM1.3 million as a ‘special donation’ to 17 Chinese schools. It was reported that the amount was a ‘special BN allocation for Chinese schools’.
Meanwhile, in Ipoh, a fourth offence was committed by the prime minister when ne announced that ‘farmers located at New Villages in Jeram, Kuala Bikam, Kanthan in Chemor, Malim Nawar in Kampar and Kampong Coldstream will be allowed to lease some 2,850ha for 30 years at an annual rental of RM200 for every 0.4ha’.
The third and fourth offences are in contravention of Section 10 of Election Offences Act 1954 which relates to bribery. All the above offences committed were published in the mainstream media and are in direct violation of the act .The public prosecutor should not hesitate to initiate action.
The Election Commission cannot profess its impartiality if it cannot act without fear or
favour. Its role as a neutral referee in the conduct of an election can only be credible if it can prosecute those who have breached the Election Offence Act of 1954 irrespective of their status.
If it cannot carry out its duty as prescribed under the act, then it becomes apparent why NGOs such as Bersih have been calling for electoral reforms.

No comments: