Wednesday April 25, 2012

EC seeks to reveal the facts

PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission (EC) has launched a booklet to debunk a list of 12 allegations against it on the management of the country's electoral roll.

The booklet, titled The Facts Behind Allegations and Lies Against the EC, contains the EC's response to issues raised by the Opposition, from the alleged shifting of electoral boundaries to the presence of dubious and phantom voters on the roll.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the purpose of the booklet was to help the public be better informed about the nation's electoral process.

“We want Malaysians to understand the actual situation, so the next time they hear a ceramah or (read) a blog, they can think for themselves and decide what is right and wrong,” he said at a press conference here yesterday.

Bare facts: Abdul Aziz holding up the booklet ‘Fakta Sebenar di Sebalik Dakwaan dan Fitnah Terhadap SPR’ at its launch in Putrajaya yesterday. — Bernama

A total of 5,000 booklets have been printed at a cost of RM20,000, to be distributed to the media, political parties and government departments.

Abdul Aziz said much had been reported in the media and the ceramah circuit about the issues but many people appear not to understand how things are done by the commission. One example is the presence of over 42,000 voters whose status is unknown on the roll, which he said leaves the EC in a dilemma.

Abdul Aziz said the EC initially thought of deleting the names to clean up the roll but found that it could not do so legally unless it is certified that each and every one of them had either died or is no longer eligible to vote.

“At first we wanted to cut out the 42,000 names. We received objections from all corners, which is just as well as we cannot do so under the law. But when we did not delete the names, the same group which objected earlier demanded that they be removed,” he said.

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