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Yoursay: Thank goodness, EC chief’s best still not good enough
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YOURSAY | There was nothing fair and transparent about the EC handling of GE14.

EC chairperson to leave commission on July 1

Anonymous_3b6c1f0c: It is amazing and incredulous that Election Commission chairperson Mohd Hashim Abdullah has only now resigned.

His shameless management of our elections will not be forgotten by Malaysians for generations nor will we forget his utter disregard for fair elections and electoral process and the lies he peddled in keeping a nation waiting for the results.

He has tried his best and put extreme efforts to thwart the democratic processes of this country to return the government to a kleptocracy.

A man only does this if he is appropriately incentivised and for this reason MACC should investigate him as to the influences affecting his conduct.

Clever Voter: Hashim's grave error was to put party interest ahead of public interest. He was the architect behind the electoral redelineation that was meant to help the Najib regime assured of victory.

The public could see even in the last moment Hashim's reluctance in declaring opposition victory was unbelievable. His resignation was to be expected given his unacceptable behaviour as a civil servant.

This is a clear example of how the line between public service and party politics was erased.

Sans Prejudice: EC chief, stop fabricating the claim that Pakatan Harapan won in GE14 because the commission had been “fair and transparent”. That's a load of crap and you know it.

Harapan won because we, the people, read this Umno/BN stooge like a book and foiled his attempt to ensure Umno/BN remain in power.

It is not necessary to list all his shenanigans. The whole nation, if not the world over, knows about them.

We turned up in full force, something he and his masters dreaded, to nullify or negate the gerrymandering among other blatant infractions, the insolence and biased conduct of his returning officers on nomination day right up to polling day, to foil his grand plan.

He should be charged with whatever law there is for attempted sabotage, manipulation and undermining a democratic process.

Oxymoronictendencies: Indeed, there was nothing fair and transparent about the EC handling of GE14.

From the ridiculous ban on images of Dr Mahathir Mohamad on banners, the refusal to announce results to allowing BN election banners to be displayed well before April 28 (nomination day), along with a raft of other measures intended to make campaigning for the opposition harder and less effective.

Alhamdulillah, these failed, and Harapan won the election despite the grossly unfair actions of the EC.

Had the EC acted in an unbiased and fair manner then the number of seats won by Harapan may well have reached 150.

No! The EC has a lot to answer for. And none of it is good. It’s a rotten institution which needs to be gutted and reconstituted.

Hplooi: Reforming the electoral process, IMO (in my humble opinion), is the second most important agenda (after the 1MDB investigations). This reformation should be urgent and immediate where possible.

Reforms should be in place before the next GE to allow for (1) better representation (2) force politicians to consider all views (not just one segment) (3) prevent extremists and fringe agenda from gaining undue influence despite their "fringe" status in society.

However, the following are urgent: (1) Better and transparent oversight over postal, armed forces votes to prevent 'commandeering' (2) Even out voters ration, for example Putrajaya 20,000, while Kuala Lumpur constituencies average 80,000. Petaling Jaya should send in at least two more MPs. (3) EC to report to the parliament select committee, which should also include opposition members. EC chairperson should be chosen by the select committee. (4) Strengthen enforcement of election rules fairly and transparently. For example, clear-cut bribing, using government assets, etc.

Dizzer: I agree with Hplooi. The Harapan government's priority (after cleaning up the judiciary and jailing the kleptocrats) should be an equitable revamp of the parliamentary boundaries.

It's profoundly anti-democratic that the country should be held to ransom by the ludicrously disproportionate numbers of MPs from the less developed parts of the country.

The ethnic gerrymandering (for example, Kapar’s 124,000 voters versus Putrajaya’s 27,000 voters) is not only unconscionable but a flagrant violation of Schedule 13 of the constitution.

About 20-25% should be the absolute limit of this discrepancy.

Carpe Diem: Another one bites the dust. Notice all the Tan Sris and Datuk Seris that are being shown the door. This is proof that all those honorifics were meaningless in the first place.

I hope we can put a strict cap on the number of awards from now on and only for those with genuine exemplary service to the country. An age limit should also be set.

It is ridiculous to have Datuks in the 20s. We should consider something similar to the OBE, maybe an Order of Distinguished Service without any titles. Those titles make those awarded it become swell-headed.

Lodestar: The most biased EC chief in Malaysian history will not be missed. He did his best to drive a BN win but luckily, his best was not good enough.

His cowardly electoral redelineation exercise should be re-examined. However, a total revamp will involve the creation of new seats to break up mega electorates and that will require a parliamentary two-thirds majority for them to be approved.

Anonymous 9916: We, the rakyat, demand that Hashim investigated for colluding with BN to try and bring disrepute to GE14.

All the gerrymandering instructions can only come from one person but it would need another to carry it out. We don’t have to guess who the other party is.

We also want the entire board of EC to be cleaned out as there are still elements of breach of trust committed by these group of people.


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