YOURSAY 'Wan Ahmad, your job is to ensure the elections are fair and just, not to complete them as fast as possible.'

EC: Section 9A needed to prevent election delays

Hello: Election Commission (EC) deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Wan Omar is talking nonsense.

Section 9A was legislated only after the Likas court challenge following the 1999 election. Prior to this, elections were held without this clause since Independence in 1957.

So what is the rationale that elections cannot be held without this clause?

Aries46: According to Wan Ahmad's rationale whatever the dismal condition of the electoral roll, it should not be challenged because elections must be held within 60 days.

In other words, it is alright if the electoral roll contains the names of unidentifiable, undetectable and illegal immigrant voters, so long as the elections are held within 60 days.

His contentions amount to that the electoral roll will never be clean and as such will always be subject to challenge. Why couldn't the EC be proactive and clean up the rubbish and attend promptly to any inquiries or complaints related to the electoral roll in order to prevent any challenge?

For all the loose talk of the EC deputy head, he has not even responded satisfactorily to the demands of Bersih 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, including that of the parliamentary select committee.

If the electoral roll is squeaky clean as he claims, why is he clinging on to Section 9A? Unless there are dubious reasons that he is privy to.

View Point Only fools would give such an answer. Wan Ahmad should just say that Section 9A helps the ruling government to cheat in the elections.

Kim Quek: Section 9A was enacted immediately after the Likas judgment, where thousands of phantom voters were confirmed to be present in the Likas constituency alone.

It is crystal clear that this law was introduced to ensure the hundreds of thousands of phantom voters existing then as well as those yet to be created to enjoy protection from being expunged through the legal process.

No democracy in the world has such a ridiculously undemocratic law. It violates the fundamental democratic principles of our constitution, and should have been declared null and void through a judicial review long ago.

KiaSi-SiamSai: How silly - if the electoral roll is clean, then who would want to challenge it? The entire EC team is a joke.

Onyourtoes: Whether we like it or not, Malaysia is still a nation of laws, with separation of power, and checks and balance.

If we bar the court from scrutinising the electoral rolls, what does this make of the EC and our judiciary? The EC would be enjoying absolute power and the judiciary would be neglecting the doctrines of separation of powers and the rule of law.

It would take a tyrannical EC and a nincompoop judiciary to interpret Section 9A of the Election Act literally.

Why are you afraid of abuse of Section 9A of the Election Act to delay the election? I am sure the court has the wisdom to circumvent that if there are attempts to do so.

Laws that preclude judiciary review are unconstitutional. Then again, a nincompoop judiciary that readily concedes to the exclusion is a separate matter altogether.

Flyingeagle Hello, Wan Ahmad, have you ever heard of the word ‘cut-off date'?

Do your work diligently in a clean and fair manner, and if you don't like it, just do as what Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said - emigrate to another country where your kind of reasoning is acceptable.

Anomnim: Wan Ahmad, your job is to ensure the elections are fair and just, not to complete it as fast as possible.

Quigonbond: Wan Ahmad is essentially saying it is more important to have a timely but corrupted election.

Of course, he tries to justify that the electoral roll is clean. That is already a failed argument in the past and repeating it just makes more Malaysians miffed with the EC because more and more of us have longer term memory now, especially on such important issue as our right to vote for a government of our choice, instead of letting foreigners decide the fate of Malaysia.

In fact, how EC goes about cleaning the rolls in an arbitrary manner is nothing short of disturbing. It is a fallacy that the federal constitution need to be amended to facilitate the removal of Section 9A.

If there is a will, there is a way to resolve a challenge to the electoral roll in a timely manner. The EC is just making one pathetic excuse after another, and is utterly failing to assuage majority Malaysians' anger towards them and the highly unsatisfactory electoral process.

Lover Boy: What a lie. What about the case of K Dinesh - he never registered as a voter. When his father Sivakumar went to the EC office, your men agreed that some Umno chaps who were your staff registered him without his IC.

Why was his name not removed then since your men cited section 9A that the electoral rolls once certified and recertified and gazetted cannot be questioned? You people are a bunch or sick liars. Section 9A must be repealed.

Anonymous #85701391: Any statement coming out of this public servant's mouth stinks. And yes, the EC has plenty to hide, if not, the whole bunch would have resigned to prove they did not lie to all Malaysians on the indelible ink issue.

Pemerhati: This is the typical modus operandi of Umno. When former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno wanted to steal on a massive scale when carrying out their mega projects like the North-South Highway through negotiated contracts, they enacted draconian laws like the Official Secrets Act (OSA) so that the public would not find out how crooked and one-sided the deals were, and how they siphoned off the people's money through the contracts.

After the Likas case , when they realised that they might lose power if they were prevented from cheating through fraudulent electoral rolls, they enacted the 9A law to prevent the people from finding out the fraud committed by them.

BN is now a minority, illegitimate government as it got fewer votes than Pakatan Rakyat despite the massive cheating, and it will do everything in its power to prevent anyone from finding out about the massive fraud it has committed.

They wield dictatorial powers through their lackeys in the enforcement agencies and the judiciary. The big question is how to remove this entrenched, corrupt and thieving dictatorship.

Alanthechan: I am concerned and confused. It seems nothing can be done to remove the EC chief and deputy chief in spite of the three Bersih and several rakyat rallies, which were public displays of no-confidence of the EC.

Is it possible to have a nationwide signature campaign for their removal to be presented to the Agong as he seems to be the only one who is capable of their removal since they were appointed by him?

Or this is also a futile attempt? The way the duo make their statements, they behave as if they can never be removed.

CiViC: The general election is held just once every five years, and Wan Ahmad is afraid of delays? Talk about incompetence.

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