EC snubbed proof to clean electoral rolls, says Selangor

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — The Election Commission (EC) refused to entertain Selangor’s plea for a joint solution to tackle discrepancies in the state’s electoral roll despite available evidence, says the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government

Faekah Husin, the political secretary to Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim(picture), said the state sent a letter pleading for the EC to discuss its recent findings — that some 28 per cent of the 440,000 newly registered voters in the state cannot be identified.

“The least they could do is call us to talk and let us present our findings. You don’t even have to say thank you,” Faekah told The Malaysian Insider, referring to the state government’s initiative to verify the roll through its State Economic Development Unit (UPEN).

Khalid told the International Conference on Malaysia’s 13th general election here on Monday that the state was told by the EC that it had no authority to clean the list.

Faekah said the state government was frustrated by the EC’s refusal to co-operate on the matter, saying the move to scrutinise the rolls was not political but a campaign to help the commission in its job to ensure fair elections.

“UPEN’s work is not political. It was done by the administration and by government officials,” she said yesterday.

Faekah said the verification process was done thoroughly at grassroots level with organisations like the village development and security committee (JKKK) vetting the lists manually in their respective areas.

The data had been collected and compiled for the EC’s perusal, she added.

The EC, federal ministers and Selangor Umno deputy chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar, who were present at the conference with Khalid on Monday, have been resistant to the state’s efforts to verify its electoral roll, a news portal reported.

Faekah said the impasse has forced the state’s PR lawmakers to take up the matter in court personally but the chances of a positive outcome was highly unlikely since the court proceedings may drag on until elections are called. Election 2013 is expected to be held within weeks.

Today is exactly five years since the last general election which saw PR toppling Barisan Nasional (BN) to form the Selangor government.

“What can we do? We have to do something,” she said.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof had said the controversial huge jump in first-time voters in the state is “regular” and is to be expected as the country’s richest state is a magnet for Malaysians seeking better jobs and lives.

A few PR leaders have alleged that the influx of new voters in the state was part of a BN conspiracy to topple the Khalid administration through cheating. BN leaders have denied the allegation.

BN chairman and Prime Minister Najib Razak had signalled his conviction to wrest the Selangor, the country’s most industrialised state, from PR in Election 2013.

The ruling federal coalition recently announced Najib’s appointment as BN’s Selangor election director and a separate polls manifesto, a move reflective of the pact’s determination to recapture the state.