In 2003, Malaysiakini did a controversial interview with Election Commission chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman while led to then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad expressing his unhappiness over what he told the online news site.

Since Malaysiakini is unable to obtain a follow-up interview with Abdul Rashid on the eve of another election, we are republishing the three-part interview which we did four years ago.

In this second of a three-part series, he explains how he was unable to curb money politics.

Malaysiakini: In your opinion, is there any level-playing field among political parties during elections?

Abdul Rashid: We need a lot of improvement to make sure that it is really level. But you can never get 100 percent level (playing field) because of the other laws that come into place... the ISA (Internal Security Act), the Sedition Act... There must be a certain level of tolerance - which I find very hard to come by now.