EC still can’t produce the electoral roll for 4 really hot seats!

An inquiry at the EC around mid-day found that the EC is still at lost on the production of 4 state constituency when the nomination for the state elections is due within 48 hours! The EC staff by the name Dayang had to ask around a few times to come to the following reply: there is a printed roll on sales-but the soft copy contain mistakes such that the EC can’t sell it! It is strange that the hard copy can be alright while a soft copy of the same roll can be faulty! Or may be the hard copy do differ from the soft copy afterall? May be some checking is needed!

The 4 seats without a soft copy of its electoral roll are: Baleh, Pelagus, Kartibas and Asa Jaya. Some big shots are running in these seats-including PRS president James Masing in Baleh. The extended delay in producing the soft copy of the electoral rolls is producing speculations that may be the rolls are being doctored to include more postal voters to fix some parties in the elections!

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Black out by media: 3 Prayer rallies tomorrow in Kuching

Prayer rallies will take place in 3 locations simultaneously in Kuching to among others, pray for religious freedom and for free and fair elections! But according to reporters the Interior Ministry which overseas media licensing has already demanded that all editors black out the news on the Malay bible which had been detained until recently. When released the bibles were stamped with wordings like `For christian only’ by the interior Ministry. This was met with strong objections from the various Christians organisations. A few weeks back close to 3000 Christians held the first prayer rally in Kuching-and none of the mainstream media bother to report it even though the voluntary turn out can beat the obligatory turn out at government functions used for BN’s campaigning!

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EC’s track record exposed here!

From CPI:

Election Commission’s Track Record

The outstanding record of the EC in ensuring elections which are unfair and have little credibility and integrity is clear from the excerpts below of a paper written on the 2004 election by a scholar who has observed elections in the country since the 1970’s.

The only way for the EC to remove any suspicion that the coming elections is truly fair and free is for it to proactively deal with the the abuses identified above as well as those specified below and to permit observers – both local and international – into Sarawak.

Otherwise, the coming elections – predicted by many to be the dirtiest ever in the country – will see the government’s reputation for not adhering to democratic norms  further besmirched and the moral legitimacy of BN rule blackened even more.

Excerpts from John Funston,  “ The Malay electorate in 2004: reversing the 1999 result?” In Malaysia: Recent Trends and Challenges, edited by Saw Swee-Hock and K. Kesavapany. ISEAS, Singapore, 2006: 132-156.

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