Dirty Tricks in Permatang Pauh Elections

Reuters
By Jalil Hamid

PERMATANG PAUH, Malaysia (Reuters) – Malaysia’s opposition alliance, which backs Anwar Ibrahim in his bid to return to parliament, said on Monday that some of its supporters had been removed from voter lists ahead of a crucial by-election.

As tensions mounted in the usually sleepy northern Malaysian enclave of Permatang Pauh, police sent in reinforcements to prevent clashes between rival groups and there were reports of a scuffle between Anwar supporters and government backers.

The vote pits Anwar, an ex-deputy prime minister who is now the de facto opposition leader, against the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the dominant party in the coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957.

Tensions have mounted with the nightly airing on television of testimony sworn on the Koran by a 23-year-old former male aide who says he was sodomised by Anwar. Anwar has been formally charged with the offence and will appear in court on September 10.

“Clearly this election can only be fair and free when the media is free and when the Election Commission is credible and respected as an independent commission. We don’t have that on both accounts,” Anwar told a press conference on Monday.

Earlier, the Anwar camp said that Malaysia’s Election Commission had removed 949 names from the voter list that was used in the March 8 general elections. [http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKKLR18099320080825]

EC: Speaker will have to notify us first

By MAZWIN NIK ANIS, Star online

PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission will have to be notified by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker on the vacancy of the Permatang Pauh parliament seat before it can call for a by-election.

Its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the procedure was for the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to declare the seat as vacant and decide whether the vacancy should be filled.

“Once he has decided on it, the Speaker will inform the Election Commission. We will then call for a meeting to determine the appropriate date for the by-election to be held and to discuss on other matters,” he said Thursday.

PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has quit as Permatang Pauh MP to make way for her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to contest in a by-election.

She handed her resignation letter to Pandikar Amin yesterday but said that she would remain as party president.

Abdul Rashid said a by-election should be held within 60 days after a seat has been declared vacant, adding it was the commission’s responsibility to ensure the smooth running of the election.

“We will consider all aspects to ensure the by-election is held smoothly, including the fact that it is soon going to be the fasting month,” he said [more]

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