PSD sitting on EC’s request for staff
(FMT) – With a slew of reforms proposed by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), the Election Commission (EC) has just about got its work cut out.
Now the only matter pending is the additional personnel they had requested from the Public Service Department (PSD).
It has been two months since the EC made the request to PSD and todate there have been no developments on the matter.
“We have met with them (EC) and provided our justification. We have given them some time.
“But they have yet to get back to us,” said EC secretary Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria.
In December, Kamaruddin told FMT that the EC had met with PSD requesting for more personnel.
He said additional staff was needed as the EC only had 450 officers and staff nationwide since 2004.
The extra personnel are needed for EC’s regular duties such as voter registration and additional tasks suggested by PSC for reforms to the electoral system.
“The EC has three core duties: voter registration, holding elections and delineation exercise.
“Even if we are to conduct delineation exercise after the 13th general election, there are still many things which need to be studied on that matter from now,” he said.
He added that the EC could use an extra hand even in conducting its regular duties, what more with the reforms suggested by the PSC.
The EC has been of late announcing a series of reforms following suggestions from the interim PSC report tabled last November.
Journalists as postal voters
One of the reforms include change of voting process for the armed forces.
Some 200,000 army and police personnel who previously voted through postal votes will now vote as “early voters” instead.
