ZAHID GETS HIS COMEUPPANCE: Bersih lodges police report against his Teluk Intan comments

TELUK INTAN - The Bersih 2.0 steering committee has lodged a police report against a statement made by Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

It alleged that there were multiple election offences committed during the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election campaign, particularly of “bribery, threats and undue influences”.

Bersih referred to Ahmad Zahid’s revelation of knowing that some 2,000 Rela members did not vote during the 13th General Election (GE13), citing that it violated Section 5 of the Election Offences Act, 1954 for the “maintenance of secrecy in the elections”.

Its chairman, Maria Chin Abdullah, said there was a big possibility that Ahmad Zahid had the details of each of those voters who voted during GE13.

Maria Chin said: “Ahmad Zahid’s statement is highly troubling. It is tantamount to an intimidation of voters.

“Civil servants should be very worried of this admission by Zahid because it means they are deprived of the right to vote the candidate of their choice.

“With one statement, Zahid has breached multiple election laws and has committed multiple election offences. And with one statement, Zahid has shed some light into the malpractices and fraud perpetrated on the public in GE13.

“We are seeing an admission that Ahmad Zahid violated Section 5 of the Act.

“It means that he could be imprisoned up to a year and fined RM3,000. If convicted, he can even trigger a by-election in Bagan Datoh,” said former Bersih committee member Wong Chin Huat to The Rakyat Post after lodging the report at the Hilir Perak police headquarters here today.

Bersih explained that civil servants were unable to exercise their right to choose their candidate when they are being “indoctrinated with the falsehood that the party in power and the government are the same”.

The commiitee was also shocked that Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof had come to Ahmad Zahid’s defence, citing that it was only “advice” to the Rela personnel. -therakyatpost.com