[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 18 Aug 1999
Time: 04:12:00
Remote User: -
Ulasan
SPR kena tanya mengapa rakyat tidak yakin dengan SPR. Mengapa SPR tidak jawab dakwaan PAS tentang pertindihan IC contohnya secara bertulis?
Mengapa SPR tidak dakwa BN atas salahguna media kerajaan?
Mengapa SPR tidak siasat mana-mana calon yang belanja lebih?
Ini semua beberapa contoh mudah yang membuat rakyat tidak yakin dengan SPR.
============================================================================================================================== Free and fair
We're independent, says Election Commission
By K. Parkaran
KUALA LUMPUR: The independence of the Election Commission should not be questioned as the body has shown its impartiality at all times, its chairman Datuk Omar Mohd Hashim said yesterday.
Chiding certain groups and opposition parties for constantly accusing the body of being a government tool, he said the 9.7 million voters could rest assured that the commission would conduct the coming election in a free, fair and independent manner.
Citing an example, Omar said the commission decided on the length of the campaign period and that no one interfered in their decision.
"I hope they will cease making such unfounded accusations in public. Their actions will only result in the people losing confidence in the commission.
"The critics are aware of our processes but choose to use us as a campaign issue," he told senior editors at a briefing on the coming general election here yesterday.
Commission secretary Datuk Wan Ahmad Omar and commission members Datuk Abang Roseli Abang Paleng, Datuk T. Puvanarajah, Datuk Eric Yeow Teck Siang and its senior officers were also present.
Omar said several measures had been taken or would be put in place to bring about transparency in its operations.
For example, he said claims of rigging of postal voters from the armed forces and police would be addressed in the next elections by placing a commission official at the camps when ballot papers were handed over to the personnel.
In the past, the papers were handed over to the adjutants or administration officers who would pass them on to their men.
"What happens after that is beyond our control. The officers and their wives mark and place the sealed ballot papers in the box."
He said there would be 235,104 postal voters in the next elections.
Omar said a team of Commonwealth independent observers during the 1990 general election declared it as free and fair with the only complaint being disparity in the treatment of political parties by the mass media.
"This is beyond our control as it is left to the individual newspapers and TV stations. We can only appeal to them to provide fair coverage," he added.
On allegations that the 1998 electoral roll would be used instead of the latest one to benefit the ruling party, Omar said the opposition should understand that there were 14 administrative and legal processes that the latest voter registration exercise had to go through before it could be gazetted.
The processes would take about seven months to complete. The exercise completed on May 13 recorded 1,129,742 applications to register as well as changes in constituencies.
"The number of new voters was 684,675 while those requesting change of constituencies were 445,067 voters. This is a big number to process. After this, the rolls will have to be displayed," he said.
"The rolls will be displayed next month. After a two-week objection period, the rolls will be reworked before gazetting.
"We expect a large number of objections this time around," he said.
Omar said another frequently heard complaint was the issue of phantom voters, adding that the process of "electoral cleansing" was an ongoing exercise with 560,000 names being struck off the list since 1995 for various reasons after verifying with the National Registration Department.
Omar said non-governmental organisations which had formed an election watchdog were free to do so but no special privilege would be accorded to the group.
He said the commission was "90% ready" and that it would spend RM55mil and employ 109,792 temporary workers.
Pressed for a possible date based on past experience, Omar said former commission chairman Datuk Harun Din was called by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad two weeks before the dissolution of the Sabah assembly in March.
"He has not called me yet," he quipped.