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Malaysian election chief pans 'vandals'

"Those who did this abusive act are definitely dissatisfied and refuse to accept the EC's rational reasons. They are just being emotional and are not using their heads."

Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, Malaysian Election Commission chairman

Malaysia's election chief, who has been surrounded by controversy in the run-up to weekend polls, said yesterday that his home had been vandalized in a politically motivated attack.

Police said red paint was thrown over the gates of Election Commission (EC) chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman's home.

"Today my house was vandalized, but I will not be intimidated. I will continue to carry out my responsibilities without fear and favor," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Abdul Rashid triggered an uproar this week by canceling plans to use indelible ink to mark voters' fingers in tomorrow's general elections.

He said authorities uncovered a plot to sabotage the polls by using smuggled ink to mark unsuspecting voters before they cast their ballot -- an explanation that opposition parties dismissed as "ludicrous."

Abdul Rashid told Bernama the paint attack was politically motivated and linked to the indelible ink issue. He said he had also been receiving text messages containing threats and abuse since the announcement.

"Those who did this abusive act are definitely dissatisfied and refuse to accept the EC's rational reasons. They are just being emotional and are not using their heads," he said.

Electoral reform campaigners accused Abdul Rashid of being in league with the ruling coalition and said the decision was a last-minute attempt to keep the polls rigged in the face of an upswell of support for the opposition.

Human Rights Watch said this week that Malaysians would be denied a fair vote this weekend, accusing the government of muzzling the opposition and manipulating the electoral process.

The government has stepped up attacks against opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim, portraying him as a political turncoat.

Newspapers linked to the ruling National Front published several reports yesterday that quoted top officials accusing Anwar of having shown no respect for ethnic minorities when he was deputy prime minister between 1993 and 1998.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in a campaign speech in Penang on Wednesday, accused Anwar of throwing his lot with the opposition because the National Front no longer wants him after he was ousted from the coalition in 1998.

"Anwar Ibrahim is not important to me," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "He no longer has any friends in the party because he went against it. It will be impossible for him to return."

Anwar now leads the opposition People's Justice Party, which is contesting the most number of parliamentary seats of any opposition group in tomorrow's vote. His campaign is founded on claims that the government has trampled the economic and religious rights of Chinese and Indian minorities to promote the ethnic Malay Muslim majority.

The elections will test whether Anwar, once considered a potential prime minister, still commands public support in his return to active politics after being jailed for six years on corruption and sodomy charges that he says were trumped up.

Anwar, an ethnic Malay, has vowed to scrap an affirmative action program for Malays if the opposition comes to power. The program has caused resentment among many Indian and Chinese who say it is unfair to them.

The National Front is widely expected to retain power, but with a lower majority in parliament.

It won 199 of the 219 parliamentary seats in 2004, but Anwar's party and two other opposition allies are hoping to deny it a two-thirds majority this time.

Anwar said the government broadsides constituted a "malicious campaign [and] vicious personal attack" against him.

"We are moving very fast ahead, and this has caused a lot of concern, consternation and anxiety on the part of the ... government," Anwar said on Wednesday.
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