The Election Commission (EC) stopped its recruitment of temporary workers following the allegation by PAS in June that the commission agreed to hire Puteri Umno members to help prepare for the upcoming general election, said its chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman today.

"This thing was brought up in Parliament in the last sitting...and I directed then that the recruitment be stopped immediately," he said when contacted.

According to him, the commission has a secretariat comprising government officials, headed by its secretary Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, to ensure the smooth running of the commission.

"This secretariat is answerable to us, and what they do will be reported to us...I had directed them to cancel it (the recruitment) after the issue was brought to our attention," he said.

Unaware of letters

He was reacting to disclosures made by PAS leader Mahfuz Omar today at the Parliament that the Election Commission has struck an agreement with Umno to hire members of its Puteri wing to work as part-time administrative assistants to prepare for the coming general election.

Mahfuz, also the MP for Pokok Sena, told the House that he had documentary evidence in the form of correspondence between EC officials and Azalina regarding the hiring of the wing's members as administrative assistants for the coming polls.

When asked to elaborate on the procedures of appointing part-time workers for the general election, Abdul Rashid claimed the commission has never approached any organisation to help recruit such workers.

"We do employ temporary workers. Probably among them are also Puteri Umno (members) who have also applied for the part-time jobs...," he added.

On the allegation, that opposition parliamentarians have copies of correspondence between him, Puteri Umno chief Azalina Othman Said and Wan Omar, Abdul Rashid said he was not aware of this.

Documentary evidence

Mahfuz first made the allegation in June and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim subsequently challenged him to provide proof.

When the new session of the Parliament began last week, Mahfuz submitted a motion to Speaker Mohamed Zahir Ismail seeking an adjournment to enable the House to discuss this issue, saying that it was a matter of public importance as the commission's credibility is in question.

Together with the motion, he enclosed a letter on the recruitment exercise dated May 6, 2003 from EC deputy secretary Patimah Mohd Yusof to the commission's officers based in the peninsula.

However, the motion was rejected by the Speaker who informed Mahfuz last Thursday that the commission had clarified to Parliament earlier that the exercise had been withdrawn.

Despite this, the PAS leader today said when he checked with state EC offices, they claimed to be in the dark of any such order.

"I have no intention of questioning the credibility of the Speaker, but we must ensure that the information EC has given to this House is not a lie.

"I had my doubts...because when I called three EC offices in different states this morning, I was told that they didn't know anything about any change of plans on the recruitment," he added.