'Transplanted' voter cries foul

[Dashken]

Dang...

Following the massive rally held over the weekend to press for electoral reforms, a Kuala Lumpur-based lawyer decided to check her voter status this morning on the Election Commission (EC) website.

The lawyer, who only wanted to be identified as Ivy, was surprised by the result.

She is now a registered voter in Johor Bharu even though she is supposed to be a voter in Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur.

According to the EC website, the lawyer, who is in her 30s, is a voter for the Stulang state seat and the Johor Bharu parliamentary seat.

Ivy said she had voted twice in the Seputeh constituency in 1995 and 1999 but did not vote in the last elections in 2004. She had never changed her particulars with the EC.

“I laughed when I first heard about this nonsense but I didn't think it would happen to me. Now, I'm just fuming mad,” she said when contacted.

Now, she is worried that someone might have voted on her behalf during the last general election. Ivy emailed a complaint to the EC today and is hoping for a reply soon.

Cases such as Ivy’s have often been cited as examples of how the EC cannot ensure the credibility of the electoral rolls, a charge which the commission vehemently denies.

Police report

In a related development, newspaper editor-turned-blogger Ahirudin Attan has lodged a police report and a official complaint with the Perak EC over his dubious voter status.

Ahirudin, who has never registered as a voter, found out in September that he was a voter in the Simpang Pulai state constituency under the Gopeng parliamentary constituency since 1999.

The Malacca-born and currently Selangor-based blogger claimed that he had never been a Gopeng resident and had embarked on a mission to unravel the mystery behind his voter status.

Following the EC’s failure to furnish him with sufficient details, Ahirudin had on Nov 3 visited the Perak EC office in Ipoh where he discovered his ‘registered address’ according to their database.

“It was a shoplot selling stationery. I spoke to the shop owner and he had no idea how I could have been registered to that address,” he said.

Attack on DAP strongholds?

Ahirudin said he would urge the EC in a letter to lodge a police report on his case to prove that the commission is innocent.

“For every complaint, the EC should lodge a police report as its integrity is at stake, so the police would be obliged to investigate. We are not talking about incompetency but fraud,” he added.

The most notable recent case of ‘voter transplant’ was in the Ipoh Timur parliamentary constituency which saw a sudden ‘growth’ of 8,463 new voters.

This included the wholesale relocation 2,000-odd of mostly pro-government voters from a neighbouring consituency.

Both Seputeh and Ipoh Timur are opposition strongholds held by DAP.

Source: 'Transplanted' voter cries foul

[Dashken]

Can't agree more on this...

Arbibi Ashoy
Nov 13, 07 4:53pm

I wish to comment on the recent rally of more than 40,000 opposition supporters. I feel that Malaysians zealously want genuine democracy but are being shortchanged by their political leaders. The fact is that holding mass rallies is quite meaningless and is unlikely to change anything. Millions of people demonstrated against the war in Iraq in the US and UK, yet the war still goes on.

We must learn a lesson from Pakistan. More than 5,000 people have been jailed but the president refuses to resign. In fact, it is widely believed that the main opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, is actually in cahoots with President Musharraf and are planning a power-sharing deal.

In Malaysia, the opposition parties need to show their sincerity to the people. The opposition must prove that they want to actually win and are not just satisfied with a sprinkling of seats shared between the leaders of the various opposition parties. Thus, the opposition must participate in the election as a single coalition with a united manifesto.

The hierarchy of power within the opposition must be clearly defined, it must be crystal clear who is going to be the prime minister, deputy prime minister, etc. Otherwise, the opposition is just "main-main" only (wasting voters time).

The fact is that Malaysians want democracy. They want to be able to choose between two equally strong political parties. If the citizens of the US have a choice between the Republicans and the Democrats and the citizens of Britain have a choice between Labour and the Conservatives, why is it that in Malaysia there is only one party that contests all the seats. The opposition must rise up to the challenge. Malaysian voters are demanding this.

Source: The people have spoken, now opposition must unite

[Dashken]

Ermm... LOL?

Kementerian Penerangan akan menghantar surat teguran rasmi kepada stesen televisyen satelit antarabangsa, AL Jazeer kerana didakwa membuat laporan berat sebelah mengenai perhimpunan Bersih di ibunegara Sabtu lalu.

Menteri Penerangan Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin berkata, Al Jazeera tidak sewajarnya berkonspirasi dengan pihak pembangkang dengan melaporkan sumber daripada penulis blog sebagai wartawan kerana penulis itu sebenarnya penyokong DAP.

"Mereka sepatutnya mendapat pandangan yang tepat tentang Malaysia bagi mengelakkan mereka mempunyai persepsi yang salah," katanya dalam sidang akhbar di pejabatnya di Angkasapuri hari ini.

Laporan Bernana memetik Zainuddin sebagai berkata, agensi berita itu telah membuat laporan seolah-olah keganasan dilakukan oleh polis untuk menyuraikan perhimpunan itu sedangkan mereka disuraikan menggunakan semburan air dan gas pemedih mata.

"Al Jazeera telahpun mempunyai 'preconceived mind' (tanggapan) dan tertipu dengan dakwaan kononnya 100,000 orang akan menyertai perhimpunan tersebut," katanya.

Tindakan polis

Menurutnya, pertanyaan pengacara Al Jazeera kepada beliau berhubung perhimpunan itu menggambarkan kononnya pihak polis bertindak keras sedangkan polis hanya menggunakan tindakan yang minimum.

Malah, katanya, Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia (Suhakam) telah menyatakan polis mengawal perhimpunan haram itu mengikut peraturan dan tidak menggunakan sebarang senjata dan kekerasan.

Menurut Zainuddin lagi, agensi itu sewajarnya memainkan peranan untuk merapatkan hubungan antara Malaysia dan dunia bebas dengan memberi gambaran sebenar tentang Malaysia, bukannya menimbulkan perasaan buruk antara Malaysia dengan negara barat atau sebaliknya.

"Al Jazeera seharusnya tidak menggunapakai demokrasi CNN dalam membuat laporan tetapi menggunakan etika BBC supaya mereka tidak dilihat sebagai mempromosikan Amerikanisme kerana Malaysia belajar lebih lama mengenai demokrasi dari British," katanya.

Beliau berkata Al Jazeera juga sepatutnya berterima kasih kepada kerajaan Malaysia yang memberi tempat kepadanya untuk beroperasi di sini.

Source: Surat teguran rasmi kepada Al Jazeera

[Chai]

"Mereka sepatutnya mendapat pandangan yang tepat tentang Malaysia bagi mengelakkan mereka mempunyai persepsi yang salah," katanya dalam sidang akhbar di pejabatnya di Angkasapuri hari ini.

LMAO! Joke of the day!

[Adrian Wong]

HAHAHAHAHAHA.. WHAT AN IDIOT. Oh Zam, zam, alakazam...

How you must be wishing you can wave your wand and make your stuttering, incompetent protests on Al Jazeera disappear like Altantuya.

Even if Al Jazeera did conspire with the Opposition to give the world a wrong impression, you certainly proved them right with your sadly pathetic cries of helplessness on INTERNATIONAL TV!

You may have had Astro censor your speech out later but hey, never heard of YouTube or the Internet? D'oh...

[Adrian Wong]

BTW the EC is obviously a tool of the BN party. I don't understand why it cannot be an independent body, instead of being part of the government. That's a really stupid policy.

I must go check if I'm registered. It's been months since I registered and yet the EC has yet to register me officially.