The Election Commission took down four Keadilan banners Thursday morning carrying the message 'Vote MCA, They closed Sekolah Rendah Damansara. Reject MCA, Save Sekolah Rendah Damansara' in Mandarin.

The banners, placed around Section 17, were removed by the EC acting upon complaints by the Petaling Jaya Selatan incumbent Donald Lim's camp at about 11am.

Opposition candidate R Sivarasa, at a hastily-arranged press conference later in the evening, vowed to replace all four at the same place by today. Last night the EC returned the banners.(*)

"The EC has reached a new level of idiocy with these actions. We are registering our protest against the EC's actions in the strongest possible terms," he told reporters.

Showing reporters several photos of BN banners with Mandarin wordings, he said these were true examples of seditious campaign material.

"Just look at the banners around you. Check out the MCA banners that talk about the DAP helping PAS to form an Islamic state. Now, that is what I call a scurrilous statement," said visibly upset Sivarasa.

"We all know that DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang and other DAP leaders have repeatedly clarified the party's stand over the earlier pact with PAS and the subsequent separation, but the BN still harps on it to mislead the people."

'They do it too'

Another ground the EC cited for removing the banners were the absence of the name and address of the publisher, a legal requirement.

"Look, you don't have to be a genius to know who put up those banners. Who else would put them up if not Keadilan."

He also showed reporters photos of BN banners where details of the publisher were absent.

"Why is the EC not acting against the BN on these banners? They practise double-standards, but do they really expect us to accept that lying down?"

Sivarasa demanded that the statutory body stop such unfair practises and return the banners to them immediately.

"The BN is getting bias support from the EC on the issue of Chinese education. It has no answer for the Chinese electorate in PJ, that's why it has to cut off our voice.

"There was nothing personal on the banners either. Even if we did mention Donald Lim's name, it would not qualify as a personal attack because he is the incumbent," he said.

Duty-bound

An immediate complaint was filed by Ser Choon Ing, Sivarasa's election agent, with the EC.

In the complaint letter, he listed the locations where BN banners in Mandarin were found without the relevant details of the publisher.

"We found one at the PJ New Town roundabout, two at Jalan Semangat near the traffic light heading towards Armada Hotel and three more at the Rothmans roundabout," he told reporters.

"The EC is duty-bound to remove these banners too."

Ser said the Keadilan banner was fair comment and did not violate any laws.

He was also irked by the silly responses from the EC enforcement team, which found that the used of the term 'Reject MCA' on the banner to be an "incitement" against the party.

"The EC can't possibly expect us to place banners asking people to vote for the BN, so how can the word 'reject' be seditious within this context?" he asked.

The EC operations centre for PJ Selatan could not be reached for comments.

Not independent

PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali, who was also present, said the incident only proves that the EC completely lacks independence.

"It is totally a government instrument. (Prime Minister) Abdullah (Ahmad Badawi) talks about change but this incident only shows that it is partial change, if is any," he said.

"I wish to make it very clear that PRM has always supported mother tongue education. We opposed the closure of the Damansara primary Chinese school, unlike the MCA/BN."

Syed Husin said the BN, knowing that it is in the wrong is forced to resort to such tactics because it was "very troubled by our banner".

In 1999, Lim defeated Syed Husin by more than 3,800 votes to retain the mixed parliamentary constituency.

(*) Sivarasa's media team clarified that the banners have not been returned and new ones have been purchased and put up again. They apologised for the error which was caused by miscommunication.