Repeal Election Offences Act, govt told

 

The election court ruled that there were elements of bribery in both the Kuala Terengganu and Kemaman parliamentary polls in the 15th general election.

PETALING JAYA: A government backbencher has called for a repeal of two sections in the Election Offences Act (1954) as they seem to contradict one another.

Pointing to Section 10 (e) and Section 37(b)(1) of the Act, Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) said both legislation were related to the issue of bribery or corruption in the polls.

“Section 10 (e) states that if a candidate is aware of any bribery, it would be evidence to annul the election results.

“However, Section 37(b)(1) states that a person will only be disqualified from running again on the condition that there is knowledge and consent to the act of corruption,” Khoo said.

Khoo Poay Tiong.

He said the dichotomy was highlighted in the recent Kuala Terengganu and Kemaman cases, in which elements of bribery were found in both parliamentary elections and the results were annulled.

“However, the MPs were allowed to run again in the by-elections. This is strange because if we already know bribery occurred, why do we need consent for the bribery to disqualify them from running again?” he said.

He urged the Dewan Rakyat to repeal the Act accordingly.

In June, the election court nullified Ahmad Amzad Hashim’s general election victory in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat.

Then, in September, the election court nullified Che Alias Hamid’s victory in the Kemaman parliamentary seat after it found that the payment of i-Belia and i-Siswa aid to voters during the campaign constituted bribery.

In both cases, the PN candidate was from PAS, and the Islamic party decided against filing an appeal against the annulment order by the election court, thereby forcing the by-election to take place.

Separately, Khoo also suggested the government appoint former Bersih chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan to spearhead the Election Commission (EC).

“We have been informed that the EC chairman will retire in several months, specifically by May next year.

“How will the government appoint a new EC chairman? Will it be through the Public Accounts Committee or can we suggest names?” he said.

Khoo emphasised that the EC chairman plays a vital role in election reforms. - FMT