The Election Commission Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz bin Mohd Yusof, Deputy Chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad bin Wan Omar and the five other Commissioners should all resign as they have forfeited public confidence in their failure to conduct a free, fair and clean 13th general elections, which is the most important constitutional criteria for their appointment and continued service.

Article 114 of the Constitution provides that the Election Commission shall be appointed by the Yang di Pertuan Agong after consultation with the Conference of Rulers and that in appointing members of the Election Commission, the Yang di Pertuan Agong shall have regard to the importance of securing an Election Commission which enjoys public confidence.

After the 13GE, electoral management became a major controversy because of the failure of the Election Commission to carry out its constitutional mandate under Article 113 to “conduct elections” in the 13GE, which I have consistently argued in Parliament since the 70s that this constitutional duty implicitly connotes the conduct of “clean, free and fair elections”.

This is where the Election Commission has failed, whether in the very delible “indelible ink”; an electoral roll which is disreputable, unclean and not comprehensive; an election campaign marred by the worst electoral offences and corrupt practices in nation’s history in particular the blatant, flagrant and unconscionable last week of the general election campaign in Penang when Penangites did not have to cook with the week-long feast of free food, free drinks, free entertaintment and free lucky draws of very expensive gifts just to topple the Pakatan Rakyat state government; the one-sided printed media slant against Pakatan Rakyat and the shameless abuse of government 3Ms, media, machinery and money! Read the rest of this entry »