EC chief: Washable indelible ink the saddest thing in life

Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof has admitted that he was disappointed and upset over the indelible ink used in the 13th general election, which could be washed off easily.

"If people ask me now, what is the saddest thing in my life, I would answer: ‘Indelible ink'," he told Malay daily Sinar Harian in an exclusive interview published today.

However, he insisted that the issue of the indelible ink cannot be used to accuse the EC of allowing voters to vote more than once, or cheating in the general election.

Abdul Aziz (left) claimed that the method - recommended by the parliamentary select committee on electoral reforms last year to improve the electoral system - had been tested out for several times before it was implemented in the May 5 general election.

"However 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?

"It was certainly sad, but we did not keep quiet. We formed a special team led by (election commissioner) Christopher Wan Soo Kee and assisted by two other panel members, Md Yusop Mansor and Abdul Aziz Khalidin," he was quoted as saying by the daily.

'EC team to study all factors'

The team, he explained, will study all the factors surrounding the indelible ink including the recipe, the method of using, method of transport, method of storage, and whether the hot air in the lock-up where the ink was kept had an effect.

Abdul Aziz also revealed that he was recently told by a supplier of indelible ink from Canada that the ink used in Africa can only disappear when the skin is peeled off or when the nail is replaced by a new one.

Nevertheless, he reiterated that there had been no fraud in the general election, or else Pakatan Rakyat could not have kept Kelantan and retained Selangor and Penang with a higher majority.

"If the EC was really a cheater, the ruling parties would have won the states that they aspired. But it did not happen, right?" he asked.

Contray to his deputy Wan Ahmad Wan Omar who had questionedthe authenticity of a photograph showing a blackout occurring at a polling station during vote-counting, Abdul Aziz conceded that a blackout had occurred at a polling center in the state constituency of Sri Serdang.

However, the fact that the seat was won by a PAS candidate, argued Abdul Aziz, has proven that the blackout was not planned to favour BN.