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Malaysian opposition files High Court claim against election commission
ABC News - July 16, 2013
A member of parliament and the opposition Parti Keadilan's central leadership, Sivarasa Rasiah, says the coalition Pakatan Rakyat points to the irregular electoral rolls and the indelible ink which washed off as examples of the commission's failures.
"The core issue in this suit is the use of indelible ink in the last general election, or rather the complete failure of the indelible ink, which was it turned out happened to be quite 'delible'," he said.
Speaking on Radio Australia's Asia Pacific, Mr Sivarasa says the EC defrauded Malaysia's 13 million voters by deliberately causing the indelible ink to fail.
"They knowingly bought, and caused to be used, indelible ink which had hardly any silver nitrate in it which meant that it could be washed off within a matter of hours, as reported by thousands of voters all over the country," he said.
Mr Sivarasa says ever since it was first announced in December 2011 that indelible ink would be used in the current election, the EC repeatedly assured Malaysian voters it would last at least seven days and would contain at least four to six per cent silver nitrate.
The lawyer says this equates to the international standard for indelible ink being used in various parts of the world.
"And then, on the 30th of April, where we had advanced or early voting for members of the army, the police and their spouses, that's when the debacle unfolded and we found the so-called indelible ink was in fact, quite delible," he said.
Mr Sivarasa says the seven members of the full bench of the Election Commission have been named personally as defendants in the civil suit.
Electoral rolls
In accusing the EC of fraud, the opposition Pakatan Rakyat says the commission is accustomed to receiving instruction from the prime minister and cabinet. The suit claims it is not independent and impartial as a constitutional body.
Reforms promised by the Barisan Nasional government include the cleaning up of electoral rolls and an independent Election Commission. Mr Sivarasa says the opposition has already been waiting years for this to take effect.
"Cleaning up the electoral roll was part of the promise made in writing through parliament, in the form of the recommendations made by the parliamentary select committee," he said.
"The Election Commission chairman, Tan Sri Aziz himself, has admitted over sixty thousand dubious registrations are on the roll, and they're saying they don't have the power to clean it up. We don't accept that."
He says while the cleansing of the electoral roll is important, he recognises it is an ongoing process.
"In this suit, we just want to hold the Election Commission accountable for the fraudulent manner in which it handled the indelible issue in the last general elections," Mr Sivarasa said.
"We got authoritative legal advice that said a separate course of action was available. A breach of constitutional rights was involved and the seven officials ought to be held personally responsible and liable for their actions."
The Parti Keadilan MP says there are already election petitions pending for 25 seats across other issues such as vote-buying, irregularities, and the manipulation of the voting process.
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