PLOT BLOTS INK PLAN

PLOT BLOTS INK PLAN

INDEBILE ink will not be used as planned in the general election on Saturday because of a security breach and legal considerations. Police have informed the Election Commision that ink from neighbouring countries has been smuggled in to subvert the electoral procedure…

ELECTION 2008: IGP: Four reports on smuggled ink - PUTRAJAYA: Indelible ink will not be used on polling day as the security of this method of preventing multiple voting has been breached, Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said yesterday.

ELECTION 2008: EC accepts IGP's explanation on why use of indelible ink was problematic - Election Commission secretary Datuk Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor said the commission was fully satisfied with the police's explanation on the four cases of attempted cheating involving the smuggling of indelible ink into the country. The decision not to use indelible ink on March 8 polls, therefore, is final. "We have discussed with the Inspector-General of Police and we are fully satisfied with his advice,” he told a media briefing here today.

ELECTION 2008: PM refutes accusation that withdrawal of ink a ploy to cheat - Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the Barisan Nasional would have welcomed the use of indelible ink in the general election to check multiple voting. "The BN would have certainly welcomed such a move, but if it cannot be done, we cannot just forget elections…we go ahead," the prime minister said. Dismissing the opposition's allegation that the decision not to use the ink was a BN ploy to cheat, Abdullah said it must be noted that the BN have won many elections before.

ELECTION 2008: Radzi defends EC's withdrawal of indelible ink

ELECTION 2008: Polls watchdog members pull out to protest indelible ink withdrawal

Mafrel workers 'withdraw' as election observers - malaysiakini

Malaysia election officials axe indelible ink at polls - AFP

Malaysians denied fair vote: Human Rights Watch - AFP

Activists warn Malaysian elections will be 'dirtiest ever' - AFP

Malaysian election reform activists threaten mass rally

Malaysian activists have accused electoral authorities of dirty tricks ahead of March 8 polls and are threatening to hold a mass rally in Kuala Lumpur in protest.

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) which last November gathered some 30,000 people in the capital to demand reforms, slammed last-minute changes to electoral rules ahead of nomination day Sunday.

They said that opposition candidates, particularly in northern states where Friday and Saturday are holidays, could be disqualified by a rule announced Thursday that they must pay stamp duty on their applications to contest.

"How are opposition candidates in states like Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu supposed to get the stamps especially when Friday and Saturday is the weekend here?" BERSIH organiser Mohammad Sabu told a crowd of 5,000 supporters.

If opposition candidates are disqualified over the issue, "we will get half a million people in KL for several days," he told a rally in northeastern Terengganu state late Friday. MORE HERE

Malaysia's PAS warns of tension ahead of polls: MALAYSIA's Islamic opposition party has warned its supporters could 'run amok' if the election authorities block its candidates from standing in next month's general election. Saying that Malaysia should avoid post-election violence that gripped Kenya, leaders of Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) told a rally late on Friday that the March 8 election could turn into one of the country's dirtiest. 'We anticipate this election will not be free and fair,' party leader Syed Azman Syed Ahmad told the 5,000-strong rally in Kuala Terengganu, the northeastern city that saw a violent anti-government protest last September

Peraturan baru SPR boleh kecohkan hari penamaan calon: Belum pun hari penamaan calon, wibawa Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) khususnya Pengerusi badan tersebut, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman dipertikaikan parti-parti pembangkang. Malah peraturan baru yang dikuatkuasakan pada saat-saat akhir hari penamaan calon bakal menimbulkan kekecohan pada hari penamaan calon, kata Pengerusi Lajnah Guaman dan Undang-Undang PAS Pusat, Mohamed Hanipa Maidin. Ini ekoran arahan yang diterima daripada SPR pada Khamis, 21 Februari lalu agar Surat Akuan Berkanun, Borang 5 (bagi Parlimen) dan 5A (bagi Dewan Undangan Negeri) perlu disertakan dengan stem duti.

ELECTION 2008: Stamp duty requirement in accordance with law, says Commission: The stamp duty requirement for candidates’ statutory declarations for the March 8 general election is in accordance with the law, EC secretary Datuk Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor said. It was not implemented to create problems for the candidates, he said in response to a claim that the move was an attempt to disqualify the opposition parties candidates.Kamaruzaman said that the EC has obtained legal advice concerning the implementation on Thursday and has informed all the parties on the same day.