EC top guns ‘deceived’ King

Former senior cop Mat Zain Ibrahim once again writes to the prime minister urging him to form a tribunal to remove the EC's top two leaders.

KUALA LUMPUR: The top two men in the Election Commission (EC) – chairman Abdul Aziz Yusof and his deputy Wan Ahmad Wan Omar – can no longer hold on to their positions as they have committed criminal offences, alleged former Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department chief Mat Zain Ibrahim today.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Mat Zain urged Najib to form a tribunal to investigate allegations that the two were Umno members.

He also asked that the tribunal be empowered to sack Abdul Aziz and Wan Ahmad.

This is the second time Mat Zain has written to Najib on this matter.

Both Abdul Aziz and Wan Ahmad admitted last month that they could have been Umno members a long time ago, but stressed that it did not affect their ability to carry out their professional duties.

The offence committed, explained Mat Zain, was to “deceive” the Yang di-Pertuan Agong by not disclosing their alleged political ties before they were appointed.

“As enshrined under the Federal Constitution, the chairman, deputy chair and five others from the EC are positions that are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after consulting with the Conference of Rulers.

“When appointing these important EC positions, the King must take note of the importance that the position commands the confidence of the public.

“If any member of the EC was found to have breached any code of ethics… to the point that it harms or embarrasses their reputation, or commits a criminal offence, they can only be removed by a tribunal, the same way a Federal Court judge is sacked,” Mat Zain said.

He said it was not an offence that the two were members of a political party after completing their university studies in the past, or while they were in their respective services.

“However, what makes it a criminal offence for them is hiding that fact that (they) are, or were, members of Umno, when their appointments were being considered by the King and Conference of Rulers.

“If they had declared such a thing, the King would have never appointed them to their current positions, eventhough they had stopped being Umno members,” he said

Cheating the King

Under the Elections Act, those who hold important positions in the EC must not be current or former members of any political party or employees of any public service agency or government-linked company.

Mat Zain said that the offence committed by the two EC top men fell under Section 415 of the Penal Code, which is for cheating. The offence is punishable, upon conviction, with imprisonment of five years or fine or both.

“If a former chief justice was sacked after being brought forward to a tribunal for writing a letter directly to the King, what more an act to deceive the Conference of Rulers and His Majesty the King?”

Mat Zain noted that a day after it was exposed that Wan Ahmad was an Umno member, he had issued a statement admitting that he was once an Umno member but had stopped being a member since joining the EC on May 1, 1998.

“But two days ago, Wan Ahmad has issued a public statement denying that he was once a member of Umno.”

Even if what Wan Ahmad is saying is true, he still cannot escape the offence of conspiring to cheat the King, said Mat Zain.

“Being silent without objecting during the appointment of Aziz as the chairman in December 2008 is akin to abetting him to mislead the Conference of Rulers and the King.

“If Wan Ahmad were to say he had no means of checking the background of Aziz before he was appointed chairman, how then can Wan Ahmad verify how many phantom voters or instant citizens in the electoral rolls containing millions of data?

Negative perception of EC

Mat Zain said that Wan Ahmad, or Abdul Aziz, cannot escape from criminal charges.

“If Wan Ahmad feels that his denial can save him from criminal charges, he has made a grave mistake. Furthermore, flip-flopping like that increases the negative perception of EC and affects his and EC’s reputation and credibility.

“Even if they quit voluntarily, it will not cleanse them from the wrongdoing of hiding material facts from the knowledge of the Conference of Rulers and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong with regard to their appointment, because the crime has been completed,” he wrote in an open letter to Najib.

Mat Zain said the prime minister should be aware and take action against all those who committed any offence or insulted the King, to safeguard the sovereignty and special status of the royal institution of this country.

It was reported that Bersih 3.0 co-chairperson S Ambiga had condemned the EC heads for not disclosing their membership before being appointed.

PKR had also demanded both resign, furnishing further evidence to show that the two are still Umno members.

“This is the only EC in the world where its chief and his deputy are officially members of a party that contests elections,” PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution had said.

Abdul Aziz became EC chairman in December 2008 while Wan Ahmad was appointed the deputy in 2004.