PKR leaders ridiculed the Election Commission chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof's claim that the error margin in the electoral roll was just 0.0001 percent out of a total of 12.4 million registered voters.
"Even my toes are laughing," slammed PKR legal affairs director Latheefa Koya, although her tone sounded anything but jovial.
Indeed, if Abdul Aziz's claim was true, it means only 12.4 voters were affected.
When compared against the long lists of cases compiled by PKR, PAS and DAP showing thousands of affected voters and Kelantan executive councilor Husam Musa pointing to evidence of 100,00 illegal workers being granted citizenship in exchange for voting BN, the claim by the EC chief certainly looks foolish and suspiciosly defensive.
Attack the best defense
At a press conference in Putrajaya, Aziz apeared to have decided that attack was the best defense, and began by warning Bersih not to "put a gun" to his head. He said the EC was willing to consider Bersih's views but had the right not to implement its 8 electoral reforms.
“I told them better don’t do that (put a gun to his head). You can suggest anything but some suggestions we might agree, some suggestions we might not. But don’t expect we must agree everything,” Abdul Aziz said on Friday.
"Although the number is small, just 0.0001 percent compared to 12.4 million, but still we are cleaning it everyday. Bersih reports in the media one or two cases, and they blow it up, making it seem like three quarters of the roll is dirty; but the actual number is very small."
He also tried to brush off a slew of complaints againt the EC's sloppy record maintenance. Various flaws in the electoral roll have been found and reported, including voters with double identities, a voter wrongly named as 'Kg Baru' and voters with MyKad numbers that did not exist.
"Come on, we are human being, we make mistakes.Reporters sometimes also report wrongly. Same thing with my clerks. Please don't highlight, it is not fair," said Aziz.
He then offered to "clean up" the rolls together, but few took his comments seriously.
PKR leaders agreed it was human to err, but they ticked him off for being arrogant about it, pointing out that if not for the revelations of the past weeks, Abdul Aziz and the EC would continue to insist that the rolls did not need auditing of checking.
Pakatan likely to boycott PSC
Abdul Aziz also said his commission welcomed the proposed parliamentary select committee on polls reform, saying that he was due to meet Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz to discuss the details on Monday.
However, the PSC has been come under fire as being another delaying tactic, and chances are Pakatan Rakyat is unlikely to take up the 3 seats offered on its 9-member panel.
Bersih had previously suggested the PSC push for a Royal Commission of Inquiry on electoral reforms in Malaysia, saying that the “term-of-references” for the commission should be drawn up by the committee within a year after its formation.
It has also insisted there was no reason for the PSC not to implement its 8 basic reforms immediately.
Meanwhile, PAS wants to offer a counter proposal to the unsatisfactory PSC, pointing out that its composition was unfair and also left out Bersih's participation. PAS leaders want the committee to be a non-Parliamentary one and should include other bodies including the Bar Council and other NGOs.
Malaysia Chronicle
"Even my toes are laughing," slammed PKR legal affairs director Latheefa Koya, although her tone sounded anything but jovial.
Indeed, if Abdul Aziz's claim was true, it means only 12.4 voters were affected.
When compared against the long lists of cases compiled by PKR, PAS and DAP showing thousands of affected voters and Kelantan executive councilor Husam Musa pointing to evidence of 100,00 illegal workers being granted citizenship in exchange for voting BN, the claim by the EC chief certainly looks foolish and suspiciosly defensive.
Attack the best defense
At a press conference in Putrajaya, Aziz apeared to have decided that attack was the best defense, and began by warning Bersih not to "put a gun" to his head. He said the EC was willing to consider Bersih's views but had the right not to implement its 8 electoral reforms.
“I told them better don’t do that (put a gun to his head). You can suggest anything but some suggestions we might agree, some suggestions we might not. But don’t expect we must agree everything,” Abdul Aziz said on Friday.
"Although the number is small, just 0.0001 percent compared to 12.4 million, but still we are cleaning it everyday. Bersih reports in the media one or two cases, and they blow it up, making it seem like three quarters of the roll is dirty; but the actual number is very small."
He also tried to brush off a slew of complaints againt the EC's sloppy record maintenance. Various flaws in the electoral roll have been found and reported, including voters with double identities, a voter wrongly named as 'Kg Baru' and voters with MyKad numbers that did not exist.
"Come on, we are human being, we make mistakes.Reporters sometimes also report wrongly. Same thing with my clerks. Please don't highlight, it is not fair," said Aziz.
He then offered to "clean up" the rolls together, but few took his comments seriously.
PKR leaders agreed it was human to err, but they ticked him off for being arrogant about it, pointing out that if not for the revelations of the past weeks, Abdul Aziz and the EC would continue to insist that the rolls did not need auditing of checking.
Pakatan likely to boycott PSC
Abdul Aziz also said his commission welcomed the proposed parliamentary select committee on polls reform, saying that he was due to meet Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz to discuss the details on Monday.
However, the PSC has been come under fire as being another delaying tactic, and chances are Pakatan Rakyat is unlikely to take up the 3 seats offered on its 9-member panel.
Bersih had previously suggested the PSC push for a Royal Commission of Inquiry on electoral reforms in Malaysia, saying that the “term-of-references” for the commission should be drawn up by the committee within a year after its formation.
It has also insisted there was no reason for the PSC not to implement its 8 basic reforms immediately.
Meanwhile, PAS wants to offer a counter proposal to the unsatisfactory PSC, pointing out that its composition was unfair and also left out Bersih's participation. PAS leaders want the committee to be a non-Parliamentary one and should include other bodies including the Bar Council and other NGOs.
Malaysia Chronicle
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