Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has described the ‘spoilt vote’ campaign launched by certain quarters as an action that contradicts the democratic system being practised in Malaysia.

He said the negative campaigning approach to win the 14th general election (GE14) should not have been made because Malaysians should be given the right to determine their choice of government.

"Everyone has the right to exercise the powers granted by the Constitution to every Malaysian citizen who is an eligible and registered voter.

"So this is the time for us exercise our rights to determine the government, this is our choice because it is (our) responsibility as an individual to determine who should become the government of Malaysia,” he told Malaysian journalists in New Delhi today.

Najib said this when asked to comment on the Spoilt Vote Campaign which previously went viral on social media via messages with hash tags #UndiRosak or #SpoiltVote, and #ProtesPRU or #GEProtest.

The prime minister is currently on a two-day working visit to the Indian capital to attend the Asean-India Commemorative Summit, which coincides with the country's 69th Republic Day.

Najib concluded his two-day working visit today and is scheduled to return to Kuala Lumpur tonight.

Earlier today, former Election Commission (EC) deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Wan Omar stressed that the EC is an independent body, and not a puppet to serve any party’s political interest.

All actions taken by the EC, including the redelineation of electoral boundaries have been in accordance with the law, he said.

“To be fair, the EC does its work based on the Constitution and in carrying out its tasks, there will be actions taken which cannot satisfy all parties.

“I as the former (deputy chairperson) wish to stress here that the EC follows the law, and those who disagree can forward their objections and call for a review, for example, over the redelineation exercise,” Wan Ahmad told Bernama in Kuala Lumpur.

He said it was therefore unfair to accuse the EC of siding with the government in carrying out its tasks.

“They (politicians) only see the matter from the political point of view, so surely they are dissatisfied. If a decision is in their favour, they will keep quiet,” he noted.

On the “Don’t Vote in GE14 and Spoilt Vote’ (#UndiRosak) campaign, which has gone viral on social media, Wan Ahmad said the action was irresponsible and went against the principles of democracy.

He said such a campaign was inappropriate and an attempt to deny voters the right to choose a government democratically.

“The general election is a continuity of the democratic process . Why should one encourage voters not to use their voting right? I hope the public is not influenced by such a campaign,” Wan Ahmad added.

- Bernama