Sibu: Is EC really neutral?

 

1. The SIBU by election and any other by election that will take place between now and the next General Election will show the same pattern of financial abuse by the ruling government. They will divert funds from other places to a particular parliamentary or state constituency to ensure that they can buy the people’s heart. Unfortunately, many of us are easily bought. Many see what the government does in two weeks prior to a by- election and not in the last 5 years or what they have planned for the people in the next 5 years. I would prefer the people to look at track records in the last few years before making a decision.
   

    

2. As always the postal votes became an issue. I was following the minute by minute development on Malaysiakini and Anilnetto.com. From what transpired last night, PR could have lost the election due to postal votes and what I suspect is a massive vote tampering. This could be appreciated from the inconsistent announcement by EC at the end of voting time and his subsequent announcements. It gave rise to unnecessary suspicion among the people on the fairness of the EC. At the peak, DAP was leading by approximately 4000 votes and by the time the result was announced, they were lucky to have won by 398 votes.
   I don’t understand on why EC need to do such a thing.
   

    

3. My research on the internet, shows the following;
   

    

   1. From the EC press release on voters turnout (BERNAMA)
      
      1. Total No. of Registered Voters : 54,695 (including 2,537 postal voters)
         
      2. Number of voters who cast ballots : 32,742
         
      3. Voter turnout : 59.86 per cent
         

          

   2. From the EC official results announcement (BERNAMA)
      
      1. Robert Lau Hui Yew (BN) – 18,447 votes
         
      2. Narawi Haron (INDEPENDENT) – 232 votes
         
      3. Wong Ho Leng (DAP) – 18,845 votes
         
      4. Votes cast : 37,919
         

          

   3. The difference between announce turnout and actual count is 5177 votes (ballot paper)
      (or about 2x postal ballot )
      

       

4. From the above we could see that 5177 additional ballot paper has come in into the final tally. A few hundred more ballot papers, PR would have lost Sibu as how they have lost  Batang Ai. These is something that EC need to explain. Can it be that they made a mistake at the original announcement? It sounds so unlikely. It is time a special select committee at Parliament look at this matter seriously. They need to scrutinize each individual ballot papers and voters listing tally in detail. Credibility of Malaysian Voting system is at stake here.
   

    

5. Sometime between 800 pm to 900pm last night, unverified news spread over twitter and Anill blog that DPM has left Sibu for the airport. It was also reported on MALAYSIAKINI that DPM has cancelled the planned press conference which is to be held later that day. Why did DPM left Sibu while the EC has not finished counting? I would say it is very strange indeed. It is as if he knew of the outcome of the election. Under no circumstances, the Deputy Chairman of BN would have left Sibu unless he had been tipped on the outcome. In fact by 900pm+, BN local war lords have left the counting center. Something just does not add up.
   

    

6. My expectation is simple. EC needs to show that they are being fair. They need to be transparent on all the process and procedures. They need to create an environment where people can vote with ease and under no pressure at all. At the moment this is currently lacking especially when it comes to postal votes. Soldiers and the police cannot vote in the confidence that their ballot paper is secret.
   

    

7. They cannot vote true to their conscience when mentally they are under pressure of their Commanding Officer, Adjutants and Admin Officers. For that reason, soldiers voting process need to be reviewed thoroughly. They cannot vote in their camps and the voting exercise cannot be done by officers. It has to be done by civilians appointed by the EC.
    As for the PR (DAP), they would have lost Sibu if they did not get such a commanding lead. The 5177 ballot papers that were pumped in did not help! Is it a coincident that the difference is equivalent to 2x postal votes!