Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof insists that he has consulted with the Health Ministry regarding the safety of indelible ink used at the May 5 general election.
This is on contrary to Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam'sstatement on Thursday that apparently no such report was issued by the ministry.
"Yes, we did (send the ink to the ministry for safety evaluation) and we have the reply," he said in an SMS communication withMalaysiakini yesterday.
Asked if the letter would be made public, he said, "We will inform the minister accordingly."
Abdul Aziz had previously told the Straits Times of Singpore in a May 12 interview that the Health Ministry had advised against putting more than one percent ofsilver nitrate in the ink.
"We paid about RM6 million and it wasn't low quality ink. The problem was that we couldn't put more than one percent of silver nitrate in the ink and the silver nitrate is what makes the ink last.
"We got a letter from the Health Ministry telling us that if we put more than one percent of silver nitrate in the ink, it could damage the kidney and cause cancer," he reportedly said during the interview.
Reports of ink cannot last
Numerous police reports had been made by voters in the wake of the general election that the ink was easily removed soon after it was applied, instead of lasting seven days as touted by the EC.
This is on contrary to Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam'sstatement on Thursday that apparently no such report was issued by the ministry.
"Yes, we did (send the ink to the ministry for safety evaluation) and we have the reply," he said in an SMS communication withMalaysiakini yesterday.Asked if the letter would be made public, he said, "We will inform the minister accordingly."
Abdul Aziz had previously told the Straits Times of Singpore in a May 12 interview that the Health Ministry had advised against putting more than one percent ofsilver nitrate in the ink.
"We paid about RM6 million and it wasn't low quality ink. The problem was that we couldn't put more than one percent of silver nitrate in the ink and the silver nitrate is what makes the ink last.
"We got a letter from the Health Ministry telling us that if we put more than one percent of silver nitrate in the ink, it could damage the kidney and cause cancer," he reportedly said during the interview.
Reports of ink cannot last
Numerous police reports had been made by voters in the wake of the general election that the ink was easily removed soon after it was applied, instead of lasting seven days as touted by the EC.
Following reports by a number of advanced voters (right) that the ink could be washed off, EC issued instruction to its staff to shake the bottle before use.
A voter, a chemist by training, had also pointed out that material safety data sheets (MSDS) for silver nitrate madeno indication of cancer or kidney damage risk.
Malaysiakini had contacted Subramaniam's predecessor Liow Tiong Lai for comment on the issue on Thursday, but has yet to receive a response.
Malaysiakini had contacted Subramaniam's predecessor Liow Tiong Lai for comment on the issue on Thursday, but has yet to receive a response.
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