EC and that ink are a joke, so where’s the trust in the by-election? says Anwar

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has demanded that the Election Commission (EC) make no more "heroic" statements pledging to improve the quality of the indelible ink. The issue, he said, is beyond repair.

"The EC have been behaving like court jesters rather than performing their due tasks," Anwar said. That was a jab at all the EC’s comments and attempts to justify the problems arising from the use of the indelible ink in the general election last month.

He added that based on the EC deputy chair's statement that the same ink will be used in the upcoming Kuala Besut by-election, it just goes to show that there will be no foolproof way to run the by-election.

"The mandate given by the public to the EC has been gravely abused, so what trust is there left anymore?" Anwar said.

Anwar said that given the meek manner in which the government has handled the issue so far, the EC should not be allowed to play the role at which it had failed so miserably in the general election.

He was speaking to The Malaysian Insider after delivering his speech at the Black 505 fund-raising dinner held at the Selangor and Federal Territory Hainan Association Hall in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The event was also attended by top opposition leaders including Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, Batu MP Tian Chua, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Subang MP R Sivarasa and youth activist Adam Adli. A total of RM18,447 was raised.

TMI was made to understand that the cost per petition filed against each contested result in the recent general election was about RM50,000, hence the need to raise funds.

Tian Chua also expressed dissatisfaction, saying the EC “had failed to conduct the general elections transparently”.

"I feel the EC need not be there any more since Putrajaya parliamentarian and Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has himself said that Malaysia does not need indelible ink."

"I would like to ask, why then bother having an Election Commission still, to oversee developments on the matter?"

He said that the EC must be dissolved before the Kuala Besut by-election. PR and BN are expected to be embroiled in a close fight for the state seat which became vacant after the death of BN's Dr A. Rahman Mokhtar, 55, earlier this week from lung cancer.

The by-election is seen as critical as it could possibly decide the next Terengganu state government. This is because a win for PR would lead to a hung state assembly with both BN and PR having 16 seats each.

After the general election, the state seat count stood at 17 for BN and 15 for PR (PAS with 14 and PKR with one). A PAS candidate stood against Dr Rahman on May 5.