EC chief has failed the rakyat

Instead of applying common sense, Abdul Aziz is playing politics of his own, still trying desperately to hoodwink the rakyat into believing that the EC is 'innocent'.

COMMENT

The much ‘debated’ 13th general election came and went but what remains is the mystery behind the Election Commission’s insistent lies that the indelible ink used during the GE was ‘permanent’.

In fact EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof was so confident that the indelible ink, aimed at preventing double voting and which came at a cost of RM6 million would work perfectly.

However, PKR’s Tian Chua’s successful attempts at removing the indelible ink via hand sanitisers got Ahmad Aziz’s goat.

The indelible ink was being used for the first time ever in the country’s 13th general election following pressure from electoral reform groups to improve transparency within the system.

In fact, reports that the indelible ink was not so indelible surfaced in the Internet not long after policemen, soldiers and their spouses had cast their votes in early voting.

Still, the EC chief has all along been refuting claims that the indelible ink was a sham. But now, in a surprising about-turn, Abdul Aziz admits that the indelible ink failed to live up to its name.

However, the failure of the indelible ink to work as expected is not what bothers him. Abdul Aziz is instead disappointed with reports that the ink could be washed off easily.

“If people ask me now, what is the saddest thing in my life, I would answer: ‘indelible ink’,” was what he said in an interview with Malay daily, Sinar Harian.

What a tragedy that Abdul Aziz is missing the forest for the trees.

It is also perplexing to see the EC head dismissing the rakyat’s concern over the controversy surrounding the much talked about indelible ink.

Abdul Aziz keeps reiterating that the ink was in fact indelible and that the commission had tested the indelible ink several times prior to the May 5, 2013 general election.

So what went wrong then?

As far as Abdul Aziz is concerned, it was a case of divine ‘intervention’.

“On the much-awaited day, the power of Allah is greater when the ink could disappear after being washed several times. Where is the mistake?” Abdul Aziz said in the interview.

How typical and convenient for government servants like Abdul Aziz to wash their hands off a problem that begs a thorough probe.

Corruption at work?

The millions spent on acquiring the indelible ink or dakwat kekal failed to do the trick; on the contrary, the ink used was no less the work of an amateur, giving rise to suspicions that someone somewhere has made good with the RM6 million apparently spent on the ink.

If this was not so, when then is Abdul Aziz hesitant to reveal the name of the supplier of the indelible ink?

Some 200,000 bottles of the ink were said to have been prepared for use for the 13.3 million eligible voters throughout the country.

It is not simply the failure of the indelible ink that irks the rakyat. What equally disturbs them is the inept and inefficient performance of Wan Aziz and his deputy Wan Ahmad Wan Omar in handling the fiasco concerning the indelible ink.

Wan Ahmad had claimed that the indelible ink could dry in three seconds, a claim experts have refuted.

Not surprising then that Bersih co-chair S Ambiga and PKR strategy chief Rafizi Ramli had both called for the resignation of the entire EC team after complaints about the indelible ink surfaced.

“On that ground, any Election Commission worth its salt would have resigned in embarrassment over dakwat kekal (indelible ink),” Ambiga, a senior lawyer told a crowd at the Black 505 rally held at Dataran Petaling Jaya last month.

EC chief has failed the rakyat

Abdul Aziz has to stop being defensive and accept the verdict that the rakyat have lost faith in him as the leader of the EC.

With the indelible ink fiasco not doing wonders to his career, it is only right that he ‘calls it a day’, having tried so hard to ‘protect’ his political masters.

The facts are all staring at Abdul Aziz’s face – an unimpressive indelible ink and the EC’s refusal to admit that the commission was eyewashingthe rakyat-cum-voters through its claims that the ink was indelible and would do away with multiple voting.

Going by the EC’s less than impressive track record, the rakyat best not be hopeful over the outcome of a task force set up by the commission to investigate factors that could have caused the ink to fade upon washing.

Instead of applying common sense, Abdul Aziz is playing politics of his own, still trying desperately to hoodwink the rakyat into believing that the EC is ‘innocent’.

The EC chief’s blatant lie that the commission had received a letter from the Health Ministry stating that the silver nitrate content in the ink should not exceed one percent for it to be health hazardous has further harmed his reputation as the commission head.

A trained chemist, Stephen Ng had claimed that Abdul Aziz had lied that the use of more than one percent of silver nitrate in the indelible ink could cause cancer or kidney damage.

While Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam had said that neither did EC request for a letter nor did the ministry issue one regarding the safety aspect of silver nitrate in the ink.

If these reasons are not good enough for Abdul Aziz to stand down as EC chief, then it leaves the rakyat with no other option but to protest for his resignation.

Enough damage has been done by the EC and while it is unfortunate if Abdul Aziz has ended up becoming the fall guy, the ‘honourable’ move is for him to call it quits as the EC boss.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.