Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin has written to dispute Malaysiakini’s reports that there was a recount of votes on polling night of March 8 in the Rembau parliamentary constituency where he won by 5,726.
Malaysiakini has apologised regarding this matter… [Malaysiakini]
On election night, we were informed by PKR candidate Badrul Hisham Shaharin that he was told by an EC official that there would be a recount.
Our story on that night reflected this. In addition, on March 11 Badrul repeated that there was a recount at a press conference and this was reported by not only Malaysiakini but also a number of other newspapers.
However, we have come to know now that such a recount did not take place. As such, we would like to apologise to Khairy Jamaluddin for publishing that assertion in our subsequent stories.
I wonder if Badrul is ready to apologise regarding this mistake too.
The Election Commission (EC) has scrapped the indelible ink plan for the March 8 general election following legal advice, its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said. He said that the decision made at a meeting today was also to ensure security and public order.
“Police investigations reveal that there are irresponsible people who bought ink from foreign countries in order to persuade those not familiar with the procedure to have the ink applied (to a voter’s forefinger or nail) before polling day,” he told a press conference at the EC headquarters, Putrajaya. [Bernama]
Abdul Rashid also said that the use of indelible ink would not be effective as the country’s constitution allows those who refuse to have their fingernail marked with the ink to still be issued with a ballot, and that the use of the indelible ink could infringe the constitutional right of a voter to cast his vote, especially if the commission tries to bar someone from voting for having an ink marked in his finger. [Malaysiakini]
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Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced the dissolution of Parliament to pave the way for the 12th general election. The announcement was made at a media conference at his office in Putrajaya and telecast live on RTM1 at noon on Feb 13.
The dissolution of this Parliament was made 15 months before the expiry of its five-year term on May 16, 2009. According to the Election Commission (EC), the country has 10.9 million voters including about 700,000 new voters who can vote in the upcoming elections. [Bernama]
[Update Feb 14] Polling is on March 8, while nomination on Feb 24.
Newspaper headlines today are dominated with the “news” of BN government giving out money, gifts and donations to various groups and organisations.
With election drawing near, doesn’t this gimmick sound like “Money Politics” to you? The great things about this stuff are that the Election Commission is closing one eye with it, and some main media is glorifying the money-giving act.
I am not a supporter of the BERSIH’s yellow march yesterday (Nov 10) despite its great success (as claimed by the organisers).
I applaud the protesters’ spirit to convey their thoughts;
I condemn police’s action to use tear gas and water cannons on the protesters;
I hope that the Election Commission (EC) could be more independent;
I wish that the flaws in our electoral system could be minimized.
So why am I still not a supporter of the BERSIH rally?
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ONLY if you are an UMNO member…
At the Umno General Assembly next week, party members registered as voters with the Election Commission (EC), will stand to win prizes totalling RM5.25 million.
Umno executive secretary Datuk Husainay Hashim told Bernama this today.
He also said that Umno members who had registered with the EC would also receive membership cards. Umno had issued 2.8 million membership cards and would deliver them to those who had registered with the EC tomorrow, he said.
“For Umno members who have yet to register, we will provide the facility for them to do so during the assembly and the membership card will be made for them,” he said. [Bernama]
If PAS or DAP are doing this… UMNO will yell that it is money politic. However, since that it is UMNO that is doing it… I guess it is ok, right?
