EC taken to task for alleged bias

Syed Jaymal Zahiid 

 

Mohammad Ali Mahmud, brother of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, was allowed to contest amid accusation of irregularities.

KUCHING: PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail criticised the Election Commission (EC) for alleged bias when it allowed Mohammad Ali Mahmud, brother of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, to contest amid accusation of irregularities.

According to election laws, Mohammad Ali, who is contesting the Muara Tuang seat, could have been disqualified when he did not present his financial statement from 2006 during the one-hour nomination deadline this morning.

An objection was subsequently raised after nomination closed at 10am by Pakatan Rakyat members, but the EC declared Mohammad Ali’s candidacy valid despite filing his financial statement three hours after nomination time had expired.

The brother of Taib, Sarawak’s longest-serving chief minister, filed the statement at 1.05pm.

Wan Azizah said this was proof of EC’s partiality towards the ruling regime.

“The integrity of the EC is questionable,” she said at a press conference here.

“We have raised objections to this but why was he allowed to contest? Just because he is Taib’s brother?”

Three-cornered fights

At a press conference later, EC chief Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof confirmed the commission had received the objection against Mohammad Ali’s candidacy but saw no wrong in his nomination.
“When we checked back, we found the financial statement had been submitted,” he said when pressed by reporters on the matter.

Wan Azizah also said the Sarawak polls was an historic event for the electorate and Pakatan as a pact.

“This is a new beginning for Sarawak politics,” she said, referring to the successful seat allocation talks among the three Pakatan component parties despite the initial dispute.

Internal bickering had marred the pact’s electoral preparations resulting in a fall-out with local player SNAP (Sarawak National Party), which has decided to take BN and PKR head-on in three- cornered fights for 26 Dayak majority seats.

There are concerns in the opposition camp that this will split the votes but some analysts believe this will not have much impact.

PKR is aiming to bag 48 of the 71 seats in the State Legislative Assembly and will have straight fights in 14 constituencies, Wan Azizah said.

“We are grateful that all our candidates remain with us and despite the threats and offers (of money), they remain loyal to our cause,” she added.