KUALA LUMPUR, 5 Mar — Participants and panelists of the International Conference of Malaysia’s 13th General Elections here took the chance to address their concerns and pose their questions to Secretary for the Election (EC) Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria in a Q&A session yesterday, only to be given unsatisfactory answers.
Being the EC’s sole representative to the conference, Kamaruddin was expected to utilize the opportunity and convince the audience, largely made up of Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives, regarding the commission’s roles in ensuring clean and fair handling of elections in Malaysia.
Instead, Kamaruddin was notably evasive in engaging with the questions, giving the audience a set of shaky answers described by his co-panelist, DAP Election Strategist Dr Ong Kian Ming as ‘not definitive’.
EC: It’s not our job to deal with errant flags
On a question regarding ‘Undilah Barisan Nasional’ (Vote Barisan Nasional) flags already being put up all over Kuala Lumpur, Kamaruddin simply resorted to finger pointing, claiming that the decision to have flags of political parties removed or otherwise falls under a local authority’s jurisdiction.
Earlier, the political secretary to the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, Fahmi Fadzil inquired about the EC’s numb response towards banners, flags, and even temporary electoral booths (pondok panas) already being put up by BN within the vicinity of the Lembah Pantai constituency.
“Itu saya tak tahu. Itu PBT punya kerja,” (I don’t know about that. That is the local authority’s job) Kamaruddin answered, indifferently.
Fahmi then proceeded to tell Kamaruddin that the local authority has only been removing the flags belonging to one party. Kamaruddin dismissed the complaint, repeating his point that the matter is really up to the local authority’s decisions.
Fahmi was referring to banners and buntings for events organised by the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar, which have fallen under the frequent target of either sabotage or removal.
According to reports in social media, new banners depicting the Minister for the Federal Territories and Urban Well-being, Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin, were also seen replacing the spots of the removed banners.
“In other words, the EC is shutting their eyes to this matter. Unfair advantage pre-polls, especially when local council i.e. DBKL is arguably politically biased,” Fahmi tweeted.
‘The EC has no power now’
Kamaruddin defended himself by saying that any enforcement by the EC would only take place on nomination day, campaign period and the polling day.
“The EC has no power now,” he said.
Bersih steering committee member Wong Chin Huat took Kamaruddin’s statement to question, asking, “Which part of the law said so? Saya mahu belajar (I want to learn about it).”
Kamaruddin refused to elaborate, instead asking Wong to email him for details.
“Today you e-mail me, tomorrow I give you reply [sic]. Saya takut saya salah beri pandangan, saya kena minta penasihat undang-undang saya. (I fear I will provide a wrong view, I have to ask for advice from my legal advisor first),” replied Kamaruddin.
Wong retorted that if an important figure in the EC such as Kamaruddin could not give a proper answer to the question, how could one have confidence in the EC?
“Tak apalah, saya hormat freedom of speech, saya tengok orang kat sini pun memang tak suka saya,” (It’s all right; I respect the freedom of speech. I can see the people here do not like me) said Kamaruddin.
Another question came from the Member of Parliament for Bukit Gantang, Nizar Jamaluddin, who inquired about the alleged issuing of ballot papers to a group of Orang Asli in Perak’s Chenderiang by certain parties, rewarding them RM5 and a sack of rice for every cross marked next to the BN logo.
To this, Kamaruddin answered: “YB [Nizar], nanti YB hantar surat kat saya, saya akan balas dalam masa dua hari. Kalau tak Pengarah saya reply, saya yang reply. (Send a letter to me afterwards, YB, and I will reply in two days’ time. Either my Director or myself that will reply).”
EC is proven toothless
Member of Parliament for Bukit Bendera, Liew Chin Tong has described the responses coming from Kamaruddin as revealing that there is “a lot of grey areas left unattended” by the Election Commission.
“I hope the EC can actually play a bigger role, a more proactive role and a more decisive role in ensuring the integrity of the elections,” Liew said.
Member of Parliament for Subang, Sivarasa Rasiah said that as the secretary of the EC, Kamaruddin is supposed to be able to provide the attendees with “correct and accurate answers”.
Meanwhile Dr Ong Kian Ming commented that the discussion has just shown that Malaysia is “sorely lacking in terms of a holistic environment to ensure free and fair elections”.
“There are certain things which perhaps even the Secretary of the EC cannot answer in definitive terms,” Dr Ong said, “The Election Commission is almost toothless and powerless in this respect.”
Kamaruddin was on the stage alongside Dr Ong Kian Ming, who represented the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (MERAP), and the Member of Parliament for Bukit Bendera, Liew Chin Tong for the third session of the two-day conference, meant to address ‘critical challenges of the electoral process’ of the coming polls. — The Rocket
