Although launching its short messaging service (SMS) election campaign today, DAP warned that the service was potentially 'destructive' and revealed that it had sought the help of the Election Commission (EC) to curb the spread of malicious messages in the run-up to the general election.

Its secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock was quite certain that the service will be abused by political parties to discredit their opponents but promptly added that DAP will not resort to such tactics.

"The SMS could be very destructive... We are worried about the abuses of SMS and the impact it will have on the voters.

"I have talked to (EC chief) Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman but he said there is no way of controlling the usage of SMS," he said after the launch at a market in Kuala Lumpur.

The opposition leader added that the matter will be discussed further at a meeting with EC officials at the commission's headquarters in Putrajaya this afternoon.

An offence

In a related development, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim was today reported as saying that SMS messages which incite the public and discredit candidates during the election will be considered an offence although this does not fall within the ambit of the Election Offences Act.

"If it (the message) is only between two parties and not transferred to society at large, it is not considered an offence," explained the de facto law minister.

According to statistics from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, 10 million mobile phone users in the country sent a total of six billion SMS messages last year compared to 3.64 billion in 2002.

People's power

The DAP campaign, known as 'Friends of DAP', will among others include SMS messages on party slogans and information regarding public rallies and speeches by its leaders.

Kerk said the party is aiming to get at least 5,000 mobile numbers from every parliamentary constituency.

He stressed that the campaign will help break through the Barisan Nasional's (BN) monopoly on the media and counter the 'false claims' dished out by the ruling front.

Met at the launch, DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said the SMS is the latest demonstration of people's power as illustrated in the downfall of Philippine president Joseph Estrada in 2001.

Filipinos had used SMS to marshal protestors during the 2001 peaceful revolt that drove the leader from power over corruption charges.

"This is a new way to fully utilise the power of technology. The SMS is proven to be a very effective communication tool," said Loke, whose wing mooted the idea for the campaign.

Meanwhile, party vice-president and Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw called on the government to 'open-up' the mainstream media and urged the media to be fair in its coverage.

Three other DAP parliamentarians from Kuala Lumpur - Fong Kui Lun (Bukit Bintang), Tan Kok Wai (Cheras) and Teresa Kok (Seputeh)- were also present at the launch.