PEMANTAU : The 13th General Elections was marred with violations of the election laws, code of conduct and endless political violence from the beginning to the end.

6th May, 2013

PEMANTAU PRELIMINARY OBSERVATION REPORT ON GE13

The 13th General Elections was marred with violations of the election laws, code of conduct and endless political violence from the beginning to the end. This non-exhaustive preliminary observation report on GE13 serves as the summary of the major violations over the last 15 days leading to Barisan Nasional’s victory on 6th May 2013.

Electoral roll irregularities

The integrity of the electoral roll was a far cry from being qualified for gazetting. The roll was plagued with serious irregularities ranging from de-registration, false registration, transfer of constituents without the voter’s knowledge, containing names of deceased persons and allows a sytematic manifestation of phantom voters with multiple identities.

Nomination

The nomination day on 20th April 2013 saw breaches of the election laws and code of conducts namely treating, bribing and vote buying by Barisan Nasional. Preferential application of nomination procedures was observed when the Election Commission allowed a Barisan Nasional candidate to submit nomination form in absentia while a Pakatan Rakyat candidate was not allowed to do the same.

Campaign period

Clear violations of the Election Offences Act 1954 were reported by PEMANTAU observers throughout Malaysia. Treating, bribery, statements amounting to undue influence, money distribution and vote buying were rampant by Barisan Nasional. Party booths set up by Barisan Nasional on campaign sites were mostly aimed to woo voters by offering lucky draws with monetary rewards, cash vouchers, distribution of goodies and direct distribution of monies to voters.

Speeches hinges on racial and religion sentiments were often delivered to voters and members of the public. In one particular instance, former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir had labelled Gelang Patah candidate, Lim Kit Siang as racist who had ‘poisoned’ the minds of the Chinese which ultimately led to the racial riots in 1969. Malicious materials were often used against opposition leaders namely the recent emergence of alleged sex tapes and the highly questionable Baitullah swearing video. PEMANTAU deplores the tactics of character assassination and gutter politics practiced by the Barisan Nasional.

Terrorist like attacks which were aimed to cause unrest and riot were reported in several campaign sites. Most notable was the explosion in Nibong Tebal on 23^rd April 2013 which had caused injuries to a man. Molotov cocktails were also used to commit arson to the resident of Sri Andalas State Seat candidate Dr Xavier Jayakumar on 25th April 2013.

Code of Conduct of Caretaker Government

A total disregard to the basic code of conduct can be seen from Najib Razak. He had attempted to woo the support of voters by campaigning on past neglected basic necessities particularly on education. Najib had made announcements of approved and/or due approval projects to the voters and he had announced that his government had approved the construction of a third campus of Foon Yew Independent High School in Johor and that his government had agreed to elevate the status of Han Chiang College to a University College, all of which would become reality should his appeal for a fresh mandate is answered.

Polling day

The Election Commission had failed, refused and neglected to address the demands and concerns raised by PEMANTAU and BERSIH2.0 in relation to the mobilisation of large number of non-citizens and/or East Malaysians by chartered flights provided by MAS, Air Asia and Malindo Airways. Instead of preventive actions, the Chairman of Election Commission saw it fit to put up a bare denial to the allegation. This flew in the face of legitimate concerns to the sovereignty of the country, the sanctity of the citizens’ votes, not to mention the integrity and reliability of the Election Commission.

Indelible ink

The secret of the illusive indelible ink was clear to all and sundry on polling day. The supposed 7-day indelible ink was easily removed using only soap and water immediately after it was applied. Inevitably, one wonders if it is capable of creating opportunities for multiple voting. More serious however was the indelible ink used for early voting also reflects the same issue whereby it did not even last until polling day. Several police reports were made with regards to the longetivity of the indelible ink and it was reported that a military personel, Major Zaidi was demoted for making a report about the ineffectiveness of the indelible ink. PEMANTAU observers had reported of phantom voters being stopped en route to vote at a second polling station and more shocking was that one phantom voter was seen with indelible ink marked on both his index fingers.

Harassment of PEMANTAU observers

Harassment of PEMANTAU observers was reported. A total of seven PEMANTAU observers were arrested and many more were forcefully chased out of polling centres by Barisan Nasional’s angry mobs. Five observers were arrested in Kuala Lumpur and another two were arrested at Melaka.
The suspicious circumstances at polling day had led PEMANTAU to lose the trust and confidence to the poor demonstration of professionalism and integrity of the Election Commission – the sole body to monitor and facilitate the GE13 – the police for its lackadaisical approach to account for political violence – the Immigration Department and other complicit institutions lending a hand to rob Malaysians a free and fair election.

PEMANTAU hereby denounces the serious electoral fraud observed from this GE13 and challenges the Election Commission, the police and the Immigration Department to provide an immediate and credible explanation to all allegations levelled against them without the fear of retribution from their political masters.
Until and unless such explanation is given, PEMANTAU will hold the abovenamed institutions liable and responsible for the blatant disregard to the fundamentals of a free and fair election.

PEMANTAU Pilihan Raya Rakyat comprises of:-
Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0 (BERSIH 2.0);
Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (MAFREL); and
Pusat KOMAS.

For further enquiries, please contact the BERSIH 2.0 secretariat at 03-77723275

or 019-4380428