EC chief, PKR Youth leader inducted into Bersih's 'Hall of Shame'

GE14 | Election Commission chairperson Hashim Abdullah has the unenviable honour of being inducted into Bersih's Hall of Shame.

Apart from this, he is also conferred with the “Five-Star Award of Shame.”

“This is for the hundreds of complaints received on problems with the electoral roll, including people registered without their knowledge, voters removed from the electoral roll and voters transferred to distant constituencies.

“In addition to this, Hashim is also inducted for announcing arbitrary restrictions on free campaigning days before nomination, including limiting pictures and logos on campaign materials,” said the electoral watchdog in a statement this afternoon.

Whereas, PKR Youth deputy chief Afif Bahardin had the distinction of being the sole Pakatan Harapan politician on the list.

Bersih said the Seberang Jaya candidate had used Penang state government programmes to give handouts, such as hampers, to voters in the constituency.

Bersih said the second batch of 10 inductees were selected from over 300 verified reports up to and including April 26.

The others were:

P Kamalanathan (MIC) - for repeatedly treating voters with food, groceries and petrol.

Abu Bakar Sidekh (Umno) - for repeatedly treating voters in Seberang Jaya, including giving out rice, hampers, tables and chairs and other essentials while campaigning.

Musa Aman (Umno) - for giving out 155 motorcycles to entrepreneurs in Sandakan.

Shahanim Mohd Yusuf (Umno) - for giving away money to voters at a BN event in Taman Keladi on April 23, 2018, then claiming it was her allocation as a senator when parliament was officially dissolved on April 7.

Noh Omar (Umno) - for using the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government to hold campaign events in Gombak. He gave out donations to zakat recipients (April 19), ang pows to local residents (April 25) and used the Program Transformasi Sosial DUN Gombak Setia to campaign against incumbent Gombak MP Azmin Ali (April 19).

Jaspal Singh (MIC) - for repeatedly bribing and treating of voters in Bukit Selambau, Kedah. In house to house visits, he gave out food, essentials and money to voters.

Hamzah Zainudin (Umno) - for repeated bribery and treating of voters in Larut, including giving out free petrol and buckets, RM50,000 to 250 zakat recipients and RM3000 to 200 people at a BizFair.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob (PAS) - for repeatedly using Kelantan state government machinery to hold PAS events, including giving religious leaders money in a hall covered with PAS flags with the Kelantan state government logo on April 16, 2018 at the Pusat Tarbiyah Islamiyah Kelantan.

Elaborating on Hashim's “Five-Star Award of Shame”, Bersih said he was chosen for failing to clean up the electoral roll, which led to numerous public complaints and called into question the integrity of the election.

“He is also being held responsible for the arbitrary and unfair changes of election regulations without consultation at the eleventh hour of the nomination day,” it added.

Since the election campaign has officially started, Bersih urged all political parties and their candidates to campaign on their manifestos and policies instead of resorting to bribery and threats.

“As the Election Offences Act will also kick in on April 28, Bersih will monitor even more closely the conduct of all stakeholders, especially the EC, political parties and candidates.

“New inductees to the 'Hall of Shame' will be announced every Friday, up to May 9, 2018,” it added.

Bersih also urged those who witness an election offence to report online at aduan.pemantau.org, through WhatsApp on 011-17721546 or call 03-79314444. - Mkini