Vandals 'paint' EC head's house red

Election Commission head has felt the backlash of a decision against the use of indelible ink - vandals splashed the outside of his house with bright red paint early this morning.

Abdul Rashid, who lives in Bukit Pantai, Kuala Lumpur, woke up at 7.30am to discover the paint all over the gate and external walls. Police responded to his call about 8am.

“I don’t know when it happened,” he told Malaysiakini at his house, saying he had gone to bed at midnight.

Asked if he thought it was politically motivated, he said: “Definitely! I think they got angry because we were forced to scrap the indelible ink. People don’t understand why we were forced to scrap it and (they) have resorted to this.”

Abdul Rashid said that a section of his two-storey bungalow, built 37 years ago, is current under renovation due to a severe termite problem.

He had announced the decision late on Tuesday, citing issues relating to the Federal Constitution and a purported plot to mark voters ahead of polls on Saturday.

The use of indelible ink is yet to be legislated while, under Section 119 of the Federal Constitution, all eligible citizens are entitled to vote in a general election.

Unless the Election Regulations 1981 are amended, the right to vote cannot be made conditional on the marking of voters' fingers.

Despite knowing this, however, the EC had accepted the proposal last July and even proceeded to buy some 45,000 bottles of indelible ink from India at a cost of RM2.4 million.

As recently as at a press conference in EC headquarters in Putrajaya on Feb 25, EC secretary Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor had confidently declared that the ink would be used in the upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, according to a report posted on the Star Online this afternoon, Abdul Rashid will be given a police escort.

It quoted a police officer, identified only as Muhammad Sabtu, as saying that samples of the paint have been sent to the chemistry department for analysis.

Without attributing the information, the report further said three men in a dark-coloured car had been seen outside the house about 12.30am. One man alighted with three cans and dumped the contents on the gate and walls.

The cans were recovered outside the house. No arrests have been made.

‘100 percent perfect’

Abdul Rashid also responded to questions on the reversal of the decision.

Malaysiakini: Weren’t you aware of the law?

Abdul Rashid: We were aware of the legal requirements, but we thought that it wasn’t so bad and that we could overcome it. But (it) looks like we can’t. And on advice of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, we decided to cancel it.

You see, we wanted to use the ink. We really did but the legal restrictions prevented us from carrying out our plans.

What about amending the law?

That is for Parliament to do. Now it is too late as Parliament has been dissolved..

But the proposal to use the ink was accepted last July...

It must be scrapped now.

Could your house have been vandalised because people perceive you as biased and because they feel your tenure should not have been extended?

(In a raised voice) Where is my bias? Tell me, in which way have I been biased?

Take for example the issue of media coverage. Some media are helping the party in power and the people (detractors) are pointing their fingers at us. What can we do? This is not under the legal scope of our duties.

Where we are in charge, we are 100 percent perfect. Where we’re not in charge, don’t point fingers at me.

They think it’s good to threaten me. I don’t think it’s necessary. I should not be treated in this manner. I’ve a job to do and I’ve already given my assurance that this election will be very fair.

There are claims of double voting by armed forces personnel...

They have to show evidence of irregularities. And if they have evidence, file an election petition and let the courts decide. So far, no one has come up with any concrete evidence.

What will you do about the indelible ink already purchased?

We will handle that after the election. The secretariat will know what to do.

Will the ink be used in the next elections?

We have to take care of the law first. But that is a policy matter and it’s up the policy makers. The government is aware of this and we’ll see what happens after the elections.