Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has defended the Election Commission and took DAP deputy chairperson Nga Kor Ming to task for criticising the electoral body's decision not to hold the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state polls simultaneously.
Free Malaysia Today reported Zahid saying the EC's authority to decide on polling days for both elections should not be questioned, especially by a cabinet member.
“No individual should question the EC’s authority, especially a cabinet minister who is also a senior leader in a party that is part of the government,” the deputy prime minister said at a press conference today.
Yesterday, EC chairperson Ramlan Harun announced that the Johor state election will be held on July 11, and the Negeri Sembilan polls on Aug 1.
He explained that the elections could not be held simultaneously due to logistical considerations, election personnel training, and the level of operational preparedness.
Nga, who is also the housing and local government minister, had chastised the EC’s explanation for the differing dates as “absurd” and “ridiculous”.
The DAP leader also said that the entire commission should resign if it cannot hold simultaneous elections for two states that dissolved their assemblies just three days apart.
Muda had also criticised the EC's decision, with its vice-president Leben Siddarth saying that while Ramlan's justification may explain why polling for Negeri Sembilan will be held later, it does not explain why Johor’s election date could not be aligned accordingly.
“If the objective was to ensure adequate preparation, then extending Johor’s timeline by a short period would have achieved the same outcome while allowing both elections to be conducted simultaneously,” he said in a statement.
Leben highlighted that holding simultaneous elections would reduce costs, simplify logistics, and lessen the strain on election workers and volunteers.
‘Nga trapped in opposition mindset’
Meanwhile, MCA information chief Neow Choo Seong also echoed Zahid's sentiment and criticised Nga.
The MCA leader stated that Nga is still "trapped in the pre-2018 opposition mindset that is inclined towards fault-finding and political point-scoring".
Neow said that the EC has already provided clear logistical and legal explanations, and suggested that Nga is either failing to understand the facts or is deliberately ignoring them for political gain.
"To Nga, stop the habit of public outbursts in the media. The government needs functioning ministers, not ministers who undermine the system from within," he added.
No betrayal
In a related development, Zahid also reportedly denied that Umno had betrayed Pakatan Harapan in Negeri Sembilan.
FMT reported him as saying that Umno had ultimately instructed its 14 state assembly members to continue supporting the caretaker menteri besar Aminuddin Harun, after they had initially withdrawn their backing.
Zahid added that although Umno had agreed to support Aminuddin until the end of his term, it was ultimately his prerogative to seek the dissolution of the state assembly and call for an election.
“I don’t think there’s any betrayal,” he added.
Zahid also reportedly brushed aside criticism from DAP Youth chief Woo Kah Leong, who described Umno as hypocritical in its approach to cooperation with Harapan.
“Political partners should look after the feelings of their allies. They should watch their tongue,” Zahid was quoted as saying.
On June 10, Woo doubled down on claims that Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan was involved in an alleged attempt to topple the Negeri Sembilan government.
Citing allegations in a purportedly leaked May 25 letter from Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to PAS leaders, Woo, who is also the Harapan Youth chief, rejected assertions that BN had “no choice” but to contest solo in the upcoming state polls.
Instead, Woo insisted that the dissolution of the Negeri Sembilan legislative assembly stemmed from the “betrayal” of 14 Umno assemblypersons, whom he accused of pursuing a backdoor takeover of the state administration.
“Now that Muhyiddin’s letter has exposed everything, certain BN leaders are ‘acting like victims’ and twisting the narrative by claiming they are forced to contest solo because Harapan had already planned to contest all seats (in Negeri Sembilan).
“This is a lie and a denial of facts that are plainly obvious, and highly hypocritical.
“The betrayal in Negeri Sembilan involved not only ordinary assemblypersons, but also a cabinet minister who is also the Umno deputy president,” Woo claimed. - Mkini
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