No need for another report, ACA tells Mafrel

By Arfa'eza A Aziz

Malaysiakini

2006-05-19 | The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) today refused to record a complaint from an independent election watchdog regarding an alleged vote buying incident in Sarawak.

Malaysians for free and fair elections (Mafrel) chairperson Abdul Malek Hussin said the ACA had turned him down on the ground of redundancy since a police report had already been lodged on the matter.

Met outside the ACA office in Kuching later, Malek expressed his disappointment with the agency and claimed that officers who met him were behaving evasively.

"I argued that the police report failed to specify the specific law that was alleged to have been breached but to no avail. Instead, they tried to convince me not to lodge the report on the basis of redundancy?" he said.

Malek said he will raise this issue with senior ACA issues.

Yesterday, Mafrel revealed that a police report had been lodged by a Bidayuh farmer from Kampung Tebewang in Bau claiming that he saw Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters giving money to 12 voters in the village.

Monitor closely

The report, read out by Malek today, stated that the alleged incident took place at the village head's house on May 16.

Each voter was given an envelope containing five RM10 notes, it was further alleged.

Malek believes that this is not an isolated incident and suspects that such tactics would intensify during the final hours before polling day tomorrow.

He urged all enforcement agencies to 'monitor the ground seriously' in order to curb such practices.

On the same note, he said members of the public who witness such incidents should inform the authorities immediately.

In a related development, PAS vice-president Husam Musa urged the Election Commission (EC) to act on the findings of Mafrel.

In a statement yesterday, he said all the issues raised by the independent election body to date - including confusion over the electoral rolls, postal voters and phantom voters - were serious enough to challenge the credibility of the election.

Reference Links

• Malaysiakini