Pakatan boils EC over rice for votes

The commission's greenlight has drawn condemnation from the opposition, which says that EC condones all of BN's actions.

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Rakyat leaders have criticised the Election Commission over its stance that rewarding Orang Asli with rice in return for a mock vote is legitimate and instead called the move “unethical” and “insulting”.

The opposition pact stressed that it would never follow in Barisan Nasional’s footsteps by showering gifts on people with strings attached while campaigning despite the EC’s apparent green light yesterday.

“Giving donations is fine but you must draw a line. PKR does it to help the poor but we don’t tell them that in order to receive the gifts, they must vote for us,” said PKR communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

“We tell them it’s a gift and then inform them that BN is stealing their lands, taking away their rights and that is why they should vote for change,” he told FMT.

Nik Nazmi said that “forcing” the Orang Asli to vote for PKR even if it was just for a mock election went against everything the party stood for.

“The EC has it wrong here. They have to make it clear that even when campaigning, there is a difference between telling the Orang Asli what Pakatan stands for and threatening them to vote or bribing them with gifts,” he added.

Yesterday, PKR Perak state chief Dr Yap Yit Thong told FMT that officers from the Department of Orang Asli Development (Jakoa) and Chenderiang state assemblyman Dr Mah Hang Soon had visited several Orang Asli villages along Jalan Pahang, Tapah in a series of programmes.

Yap claimed that throughout the visits, the Orang Asli were forced to vote for BN candidates on mock ballot papers and then made to return the marked papers to the officials. They were then rewarded with 5kg of rice.

Yap speculated that once the 13th general election began, BN would return to the villages and remind the Orang Asli that they had already voted for the party and accepted the rice.

He also said the usage of mock ballot papers contravened the Election Offences Act and those responsible could be imprisoned up to two years or fined up to RM5,000, or suffer both penalties.

But EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said that it sounded like BN was conducting voter education programmes while campaigning – a practice he encouraged for all sides.

Wan Ahmad also said that using mock ballots was acceptable and the Election Offences Act was only applicable once the true ballot papers were unveiled on polling day or if it had been leaked.

‘No respect for democratic process’
Nik Nazmi admitted to FMT that PKR used mock ballot papers as well when testing their election machinery but stressed that in their case, the people who took part knew what they were doing.

“We just do it to test the machinery, to test polling agents if they’re trying to cheat. We are trying to simulate the situation on election day,” he added.

“It’s very different from what BN allegedly did. In fact our volunteers vote various ways just to emulate election day,” he revealed.

And while Nik Nazmi stopped short of calling the EC biased for its response, he was amused by the possible scenario that would have unfolded if PKR had been caught “educating” voters in such a manner.

“Imagine if it was the other way round and Utusan Malaysia had reported PKR was providing Orang Asli with rice in return for mock votes. I wonder what EC would have said to that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nik Nazmi’s counterparts in DAP lashed out at the EC’s response and insisted that everything BN did was legitimate in the commission’s eyes.

“It’s unethical, a corrupt practice and a serious electoral offence to force anybody to vote for us by rewarding those who obliged with gifts or donations,” said DAP deputy chairman Tan Kok Wai.

“The EC always condones such acts when BN is the culprit,” he added.

DAP publicity chief Tony Pua said the party had never held mock elections and even if it did, it would not provide the public with gifts for votes.

“We do have state assemblymen going down to the ground to campaign but we don’t do gifts,” he stressed.

“Even though the EC now says it isn’t wrong, it doesn’t mean we will start doing such a thing. Anything that BN does is legitimate to the EC,” he said.

DAP assistant national publicity chief Zairil Khir Johari dismissed EC’s argument that BN’s alleged actions were legitimate because it had taken place during mock elections.

“So EC is saying vote-buying is okay before an election but not during an election. That is not logical at all. If vote-buying is an offence then it is an offence regardless. Can we say it is not okay for a student to cheat during an exam but okay to cheat at other times?

“Is EC condoning vote-buying that it is okay to ‘teach’ people to accept bribery?” he asked.

He said DAP would never contemplate insulting a voter by “forcing” them to vote or “rewarding” them to vote a certain way.

“Clearly, BN has no respect for the democratic process,” he added.

Educating the voters
Meanwhile, Tapah BN chairperson Samsudin Abu Hassan was reported in Malay daily Sinar Harian that the programme was designed to educate the Orang Asli voters there on how to vote.

He claimed that in the past general election, many Orang Asli had spoiled their votes.

“We have never forced anyone to vote for BN. It is their right to vote for whomever they want. We just want to teach them how to vote and cast their ballots correctly,” he was quoted as saying.

“If they (PKR) wish to do it, then it is up to them. That is their right,” he added.

He also said that the 5kg of rice was an ordinary donation meant to help the people rather than fish for votes.

“PKR should not be afraid. If they want to donate, no one will stop them,” he added.