Election Commission - Reformation

The Hulu Selangor and Sibu By-elections were just over. The former constituency went to BN while the latter to Pakatan Rakyat. In the Sibu by-election, DAP won by just slightly less than 400 votes after taking into consideration the 2500 odd postal votes.

The two by-elections exposed the good, the bad and the ugly policies and practices of the BN and PR. Besides, the campaigning modes were different between West and East Malaysia.

Each time a by-election is held, it pains me to note that so much public money is being poured by BN into the election machinery. The profligate abuse of its power by using manpower, assets and services of the various ministries was most unwarranted and should be investigated.

The BN was desperate to win the Sibu seat. So great was this intent that PM Najib cracked to certain voters, "If you help me , I will help you". And, this incident was being videoed and circulated in the internet.

The results in Hulu Selangor and Sibu had certainly antagonised many members of UMNO who accused that the Chinese of not being thankful for the many opportunities and wealth that they had amassed over the years.

Unfortunately, these scum-bags did not realise that the Chinese in general are by nature industrious and hard-working and they use their brains and sweats to eke out their livelihood. Besides, the political leaders must realise that they can fool most Chinese some of the time, some of the Chinese most of the time but they cannot fool all of them all the time.

What PM Najid did on the eve of the election in Sibu was rather odd. He obviously did not realise that most Chinese souls are not for sale. They would want justice, equitable oportunities to be accorded to their children to pursue their desired courses in the local universities, a competitive business environment, employment in the civil service, police and armed forces, incorrupt administration and NOT to be treated as second-class citizens and pendatang.

BN has over the years milked much of the natural resources of Sabah and Sarawak - particularly timber and petroleum. Basing on the developments taking place or have taken place during the past four decades, the East Malaysians have certainly felt cheated. And this swing to PR is also a strong message to the BN that the people are not happy with the CM who has been milking the Sarawak State's resourses almost dry.

Change is certainly needed in the two Eastern States in all fronts from the sore religious issue of Allah to agricultural and industrial developments. Substantial amount of the revenue realised from the sales of the States' resources must be ploughed back for social economic development of the people and the two states. Unless this is done, the BN will face a bleak future in securing the support of the people there.

From the results of the above two by-elections, it is clear that majority non-Malay were disenchanted with the BN leadership who has encouraged rampant corrupt practices, inefficient judiciary and police population force, the highly discriminatory, racialistic and religionistic public policies. Most frustrating among the non-Malays is that most of their children could not obtain scholarships and or pursue courses of their choice at local universities. The Government has forgotten that they work hard and contribute taxes to the treasury. Yet, others benefit from the fruits of their hard labour.

In view of the above, many parents have to work doubly hard in order to support their children to pursue and obtain qualications in their desired programmes.

In the said two by-elections, I just wonder whether the officers of EC were sleeping, incompetent or biased by not taking actions to ensure that the elections were fairly carried out. Money politics was blantant and rampant and yet the EC officers just turned turned blind and deaf to what went on before them.

There were prevalent financial enticements offerred to schools, temples, organisatins and individuals with a view of 'buying their favour' to vote for BN. If this is not a form of election rigging, what is?

Another highly despicable practice is the allowance of postal votes from those in the military or police forces. This practice has caused a lot of suspicion among the populace and it must be stopped altogether in future elections if fairness and transparency are to be upheld. In my view, postal votes are part of the process of gerrymandering.

Why is it so difficult to encourage all those in the military and poice forces on transfer to change their addresses to where they are physically stationed and cast their votes in the constituency wherein their respective stations or camps are located. I just cannot see why this cannot be done.

The other despicable conduct of the Election Commission is to purposely delay and with-hold the announcement of the election results when BN candidates lost in the election.

A point in reference is the last General Election in which the results in Selangor and Wilayah and the Sibu by-election where the people had to wait until the wee hours of the morning before the results were broadcast. This is most uncalled for. It does not reflect the independence of the EC.