The Election Commission in Malaysia needs more power to prevent one-sided campaign coverage in local media or the entire electoral system will become a "laughingstock," the commission's chairman said.
Top election official Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahim's comments on Friday appeared to lend rare support to opposition complaints of pro-government bias in the press.
"If you want free and fair elections ... you must be able to have that power to level that playground," Abdul Rahim, head of the Election Commission, said in an interview ahead of the March 8 general elections.
PHOTO: AP
"Without that power, then the whole system becomes a laughingstock," he said. The commission must be able "to control the media when they take sides."
It is rare for officials connected with the electoral process to speak so candidly about media bias. The comments are even more surprising coming from Abdul Rashid, who has been criticized by opposition parties for refusing to acknowledge that voting irregularities occur in the country.
"In an election you have to produce what is called an informed choice. That's the principle. People must know who is contesting so publicity must be given to all, not just one section. And there are media bodies that take only one side," he said.
The mainstream media in Malaysia are either government-owned or controlled by the parties in the ruling coalition. They also need annually to renew government licenses to operate. This has ensured that virtually every newspaper and TV station broadcasts flattering reports of the government. The opposition rarely gets a good mention in the papers.
The Election Commission (EC) is supposed to be an independent body, whose members are appointed by the constitutional monarch. But it is largely seen as a pro-government panel that has done little to promote electoral fairness.
Abdul Rashid indicated his hands are tied, saying the commission is in charge only of the electoral rolls and the polling process and has no power to control other irregularities, including vote-buying.
The laws need to be changed to give the commission more muscle, he said.
"Our [electoral] laws have been there for 50 years. After 50 years, I feel there must be some kind of review," he said. "There must be a law ... put in place where the EC is seen to be in full control."
Despite his frank comments that will likely be welcomed by the opposition, Abdul Rashid insisted the electoral process itself is free, fair and transparent.
He dismissed allegations that electoral rolls, which are vetted by the commission, are filled with names of dead people and people living in other constituencies. These names are used by bogus voters deployed by the ruling party, critics say.
"That never happens here. It cannot happen because the process -- the polling, the counting and so on -- is so transparent," he said.
"Cheating has never been proven anywhere in this country," he said, adding the few incidents of fraud that may have taken place have been minor.
Opposition groups reiterated demands for electoral reforms at a rally late on Friday in northeastern Terengganu state, where the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party's president, Abdul Hadi Awang, told a crowd of several thousand people there were "clear signs of cheating."
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
RSS