'EC should quit for condoning BN voting education'

The DAP has called on the Election Commission (EC) chief to resign over the so-called ‘mock voting' sessions held in Tapah, Perak where Orang Asli were allegedly trained to vote for the BN in the upcoming general election.

The party's assistant national publicity secretary Zairil Khir Johari (right) slammed EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar for saying that the incident led by Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) was a "perfectly acceptable and normal" exercise of "voter education" conducted by the BN.

Wan Ahmad was quoted by the Free Malaysia Today news portal yesterday as saying that there was nothing wrong, as, "only when a donation is given during the campaign period does it become an offence and can be seen as vote-buying."

Describing Wan Ahmad's (below) statement as "shocking and incredulous", Zairil questioned how the EC could "boldly attempt to whitewash such an unethical act" in a statement today.

"Furthermore, is the EC actually saying that vote-buying is acceptable as long as it is not done during an election campaign? How does that make sense at all?

"Can we therefore say that it is acceptable for a student to cheat as long as he is not doing during an exam?

"There is now no way out but for the entire EC to resign in order to preserve what little credibility is left of the institution," he said adding that it is unacceptable for the EC to condone vote-buying and political corruption in the guise of "voter education", he said.

On Wednesday, Perak Pakatan Rakyat claimed that Jakoa and the BN held sessions in a bid to teach the Orang Asli how to vote.

Participants were given two pieces of paper that looked like ballot papers for the Tapah parliamentary constituency and the Chenderiang state constituency, and then "forced" to vote for the BN in front of a Jakoa officer and an elected representative.

Those who voted BN on both mock ballot papers were allegedly rewarded with 5kg of rice.

Yesterday, Ayer Kuning assemblyperson and Tapah BN chairperson Samsudin Abu Hassan denied the allegations,saying that the programme was organised to teach the Orang Asli the correct way to cast their ballots.

Samsudin told Malay daily Sinar Harian that the programme was carried out after a high number of spoilt votes were found among Orang Asli voters in the last polls.

He also admitted that 5kg of rice was given to each Orang Asli voter but argued that it was to provide aid, not a vote fishing exercise.