EC makes a plea for peaceful Sarawak elections

KUCHING: No other state in Malaysia has had a good track record like Sarawak does when it comes to elections, said Election Commission chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah.

He said in Sarawak, election seasons often went peacefully, with the air of solidarity and celebration.

“I hope Sarawak won’t break its own record. So on nomination day this Monday, supporters of the parties or candidates are asked not to come and gather in large numbers at the designated centres.

“If a lot of them enter and break the rules then it will disturb the duty of EC officials,” Mohd Hashim said at a press conference yesterday.

He urged the voters to behave the way people in other countries deal with elections. “In some countries the voters just come and vote, then they go home and listen as to who had won. They leave it to their respective EC officials to handle all related matters.”

Mohd Hashim was asked about objections by opposition politicians to uniformed officers from the Peninsula being allowed to vote in the Sarawak elections on May 7.

He said it should not be made an issue, and reminded the opposition of rumours that were spread at the 2013 general election claiming that tens of thousands of those who voted were Bangladeshis with fake identity cards.

“Even until after the election I didn’t see these 40,000 Bangladesh nationals,” he said, adding in jest: “Maybe people like me, if I don’t comb my hair I look like a Bangladeshi.”

He urged politicians not to make negative assumptions against the uniformed officers at the early-voting session. “We already have the numbers of those who would be voting in every camp. It is normal for those working outside Sarawak to come back here to vote especially if their registered voting area is in the state,” he said.

Campaigning begins on Tuesday for Sarawak’s 11th state elections. Nominations will be filed tomorrow with voting taking place on May 7.

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