Today, we can ask the question: What has the Parliament Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, the Election Commssion Chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Tan Sri Dzulkiflif Ahmad have in common?
Answer: Their inability to justify their decisions and actions as illustrated by the conduct of the Election Commission Chairman at the media conference this afternoon.
After announcing the nomnation and polling dates for the 14th General Election, Mohd Hashim Abdulah refused to field questions from journalists and exited the media conference in double-quick time despite repeated shouts of “Tan Sri! Tan Sri!” to get his attention.
Mohd Hashim cannot explain the rationale why the Election Commission decided to affix a Wednesday for Polling Day, if it is mindful of the Constitutional provision to act in a manner which enables it to enjoy “public confidence” and the constitutional mandate to conduct free, fair and honest elections.
In affixing Polling Day on a Wednesday, instead of a Saturday on May 5 or May 12, the Election Commission is complying with the wishes and objectives of the UMNO/BN coalition to encourage the lowest voter turnout which would be the case if Polling is fixed on a weekday instead of the traditional Saturday.
Would the government declare May 9 as public holiday to encourage maximum voter turnout?
Talking about independence, impartiality and professionalism!
This is why it was such a joke when the chief of Election Commission teamed up with the Chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to announce a joint Ops Centre to handle complaints related to election violations in the 14th General Election, as the credibility of the MACC is not very much higher than the Election Commision which had recently marred its reputation further with the worst gerrymandering of electoral constituencies in the nation’s history.
What is the use of Election Commission-MACC Joint Ops Centre operating 24 hours a day when they dare not deal with infractions and violations by the sharks from UMNO/BN but only offences by the Opposition or UMNO/BN minnows?
The MACC can never recover its reputation and credibility so long as it maintains a blind-eye to the greatest corruption in the nation’s history and the largest kleptocracy in the world – the international multi-billion ringgit 1MDB money-laundering scandal which had turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy in the last three years – not to mention the thunderous silence on the issue affecting the credibility and authority of the MACC Chief Commissioner himself.
At minimum, I would ask the MACC Chief Commissioner Dzulkifli to stop campaigning for UMNO/BN when he said that the MACC had only received a list of potential candidates from BN to vet for corruption or misuse of power.
If the MACC has any credibility or efficacy in fighting corruption, in particular grand corruption, how could Malaysia’s ranking in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2017 fallen to the lowest in 23 years, ranked as No. 62 out of 180 countries?
For several weeks before Parliament’s dissolution on 7th April 2018, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had been indulging in money politics and abusing his powers visiting various parts of the country with goodies and dedak, which neither the Election Commission nor the MACC dared to breathe a word of objection or disapproval.
This is why the Election Commssion Chairman and the MACC Chief Commissioner share a common trait with the Parliament Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.
I had been a Member of Parliamnt for 10 terms from 1969 to 2018, except for the tenth Parliament from 1999 to 2004, spanning 45 years from 1969.
However, I have not felt so ashamed as a MP than in the 13th Parliament.
I was suspended twice, and for six months, basically because I demanded answers and accountability over the 1MDB scandal and why Malaysia became known as a global kleptocracy during the tenure of the 13th Parliament.
The Parliament Speaker should apologise to all Malaysians for the 13th Parliament’s failure to do anything to clear or purge Malaysia of the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.
(Media Statement on Tuesday, April 10, 2018)