Pakatan seeks 500,000 volunteers for anti-EC action

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On May 26, 2013

(TMI) – Pakatan Rakyat (PR) wants to sign up some 500,000 volunteers to protest at the Election Commission (EC) offices until the members resign in favour of replacements who report directly to parliament.

The coalition also wants voters to lodge reports against the EC forusing indelible ink that can be washed off immediately after the May 5 general elections, despite claims that it was introduced to prevent possible double voting.

“The people will move to SPR until SPR is dibubarkan (disbanded). Can?” losing PKR candidate Badrul Hisham Shaharin asked thousands who crowded a rally here organised by 60 NGOs, referring to the EC by its initials in the Malay language.

Emceeing the rally to protest alleged electoral fraud at the Dataran Petaling Jaya in Jalan Timur, Badrul led the crowd in chants of “SPR letak jawatan” (EC resign), singling out EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof and deputy Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

PR has blamed alleged electoral fraud for not becoming government although it won the popular vote in Election 2013. It won 89 federal seats against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) which took 133 seats in the 222-seat parliament.

The politician better known as CheguBard heads Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM), which is demanding that the EC should not be under the Prime Minister’s Department but should report to parliament.

A man holds a sign at the rally. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was the last to address the rally but he also rejected the idea of working with the EC and supported calls that the current EC members resign immediately.

“We will never cooperate or work or engage with such a deceitful Election Commission,” the PKR de facto chief said, adding that an “ultimatum” will be issued if they do not resign.

Anwar urged the public to lodge police reports if they had experienced the alleged premature washing-off of the indelible ink from their fingers on voting day.

He said they should do so from tomorrow onwards up until Monday and send copies of the reports to PR.

“This is to show the power and might of the people. We challenge you according to due process. We also respect the rule of law,” said Anwar.