Low turnout, missing names mar Penanti vote

By Lee Wei Lian and Syed Jaymal Zahii, The Malaysian Insider

A meagre voter turnout before noon and some missing names in the electoral rolls is blighting PKR's assured win in today's Penanti by-election that has been described as “uninspiring” due to Barisan Nasional's absence.

Voting began at 8am and will close at 5pm in the semi-rural state seat within the PKR political fortress of Permatang Pauh held by its de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Election Commission (EC) reported that just hundreds casted votes in most of the polling centres before noon in an otherwise cool and calm morning, putting voter turnout at 26 per cent.

Despite Barisan Nasional’s boycott, PKR has focussed on the federal government’s rule and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s performance in its nightly ceramahs, saying a bigger majority will underscore the people’s ire against the ruling coalition.

PKR’s Dr Mansor Othman, who has lost in three elections, faces three independents in a by-election that is his to lose.

He has claimed to have received up to eight reports of voters finding their names missing from the Penanti electoral rolls during his rounds at the polling centres.

Voters said the EC had transferred them out of the state seat in the latest electoral roll dated April 16.

Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, who visited polling stations with Mansor and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, rapped the EC and called it a conspiracy to sabotage Penanti voters.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof later denied any conspiracy, blaming the voters for not checking the rolls ahead of the by-election.

“They should have checked. This is all the last minute mentality but if we get many complaints, we will probe,” Abdul Aziz told reporters while visiting the polling centres.

He added that 90 per cent of electoral regulations have been met but said voter turnout is still low.

This was seen in both the Berapit and Teluk Wang polling centres. Independent candidate Nai Khan Ari cast his vote in Teluk Wang and told reporters he hoped Penanti voters would give him a chance to represent them.

But turnout at the SMK Guar Perahu polling centre, where PKR lost to Barisan Nasional in the last polls, was high with nearly 400 votes cast.

A PKR election voter claimed that 80 per cent of those going in are the party’s supporters.

Police mounted tight security and deployed Light Strike Force units armed with batons and shields outside the polling centres where most voters trickled in.

Polls observers said the heavy police presence was unnecessary and is seen as intimidating apart from defying international norms.

However, police have been putting in extra policemen for the by-elections which has ramped up government costs, a reason cited by the Barisan Nasional to skip the Penanti vote.

For this by-election, Mansor and four independents – Aminah Abdullah, Mohd Saberi Osman, Nai Khan Ari and Kamarul Ramizu Idris – had filed their nomination papers on May 23 but Saberi was disqualified as PKR proved he was a bankrupt.

PKR’s greatest challenge has been Aminah, its former Penang Wanita chief, who claimed the party had tried to bribe her RM80,000 to quit the race or offered her the deputy chief minister I post if she rejoined upon victory.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) are investigating her claims.

Police are also investigating its own reports that DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang and PKR’s Padang Serai MP N. Gobalakrishnan had committed sedition and criminal defamation for linking Najib to the Perak power grab and the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder during the election campaign.

The police had banned both topics in ceramahs at the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election last month but the opposition had defied them.

“In Najib’s Malaysia, speaking truth has become sedition criminal defamation. Darkness descending on Malaysia. Malaysians must not be cowed,” Kit Siang said after the police took his statement in his Island Glades home.

The Ipoh Timur MP has been one of the Pakatan Rakyat icons that have appeared in the daily ceramahs. Others who have spoken included Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, Kelantan mentri besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Selangor mentri besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and Anwar himself.

PKR expects to increase its votes in the seat held by Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin who quit as DCM I and assemblyman last month after being mired in allegations of graft and insipid performance.

Khairuddin won 7,346 votes in his electoral debut in Election 2008, winning by a majority of 2,219 against Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid.

The double Masters lawmaker said he resigned to further his studies, prompting Barisan Nasional to boycott what it called an uncalled-for by-election.

Mansor, a Yale graduate and a former academic, is expected to be named DCM I after his victory against Aminah, former Gerakan member Nai Khan Ari and Kamarul, who had earlier lost his deposit in the Bukit Gantang vote.
This is the sixth by-election since Election 2008. Barisan Nasional has not won in any of the four previous by-elections in Peninsular Malaysia, only winning in Batang Ai in Sarawak.

Another by-election will be held in the rural Kelantan state seat of Manek Urai on July 14 after its five-term assemblyman Ismail Yaacob from PAS died on May 22.

The Penanti by-election will use the 2008 electoral roll that was updated April 16 that records 15,384 registered voters with 24 postal voters.

The electorate comprises 72.68 per cent Malays, 24.22 per cent Chinese, 2.39 per cent Indians and 0.71 per cent others.