If there is a nation-wide quiz asking Malaysians who could be responsible for the two following headlines on online media today, “Bersih is Pakatan stooge in bid for Putrajaya” and “Bersih Pakatan’s catspaw”, I don’t think anyone who is not in the know could get it right despite everyone being given three guesses each.
The hot favourites for these guesses would be UMNO leaders headed either by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin or the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, while others named would include the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and other Umno and Barisan Nasional (including MCA, Gerakan, MIC) leaders.
Nobody would have thought of any Election Commission high official as the culprit for these two quotes for they are completely out of character of what is expected of Election Commission officers.
The Election Commission Deputy Chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, who is the culprit for these two headlines, showed his true colours of lacking the 3Is of independence, impartiality and integrity as intended by the Malaysian Constitution when he launched bitter attacks on Bersih and Pakatan Rakyat, in today’s forum “Bersih’s demands – what is the Election Commission’s explanation”.
If the Election Commission is truly independent and scrupulously stays out of the political wars between the contending political parties in the political system, the full panel of Election Commission Commissioners should convene an emergency meeting to ask Wan Ahmad to resign from the Election Commission.
Otherwise, Wan Ahmad will only be confirming perception in public minds – that the Election Commission is nothing but stooge and catspaw of Barisan Nasional, doing the BN’s bidding rather than to discharge its constitutional mandate to carry out a free, fair and clean election system.