Anwar: Opposition acknowledges bipartisan committee of MP’s to oversee EC
(The Star) – Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says Pakatan acknowledges the Government’s effort to set up a bipartisan committee of Members of Parliament (MPs) to oversee the Election Commission (EC) to strengthen its integrity and credibility, but insists that the EC start afresh completely.
He said, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof and deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar must first resign because of not only showing incompetence, but also complicity in alleged fraudulent incidences during the recent general election.
“You cannot therefore just sidetrack by saying now they are under parliament. It doesn’t mean anything,” he said after opening the refurbished Sama Gagah market in Permatang Pauh here on Sunday.
On Saturday Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the setting up of a special committee, comprising Barisan Nasional and Opposition MPs, to oversee the Election Commission.
With the move, Najib said he hoped that the impartiality of the EC would not be questioned and that the people’s confidence in the commission would be strengthened.
Najib said the Government would fully co-operate with the EC to further improve the credibility of general elections in the country although the last one went without a hitch.
Bernama had quoted Najib as saying that the commission was not a government agency or department but a mechanism set up based on provisions under the Federal Constitution.
On reports about the police closing in on a cyber-trooper group called, Red Bean Army, Anwar said he saw it as a form of diverting the people’s attention away from the disputes and alleged fraud in the general election process.
“These allegations about Red Bean Army against me and the DAP are without any proof, and they will subside after two weeks,” he said.
The group had allegedly posted slander online as well as harassed or intimidated segments of the online community that did not support Pakatan on some issues.
