CENBET: Probe allegations of ‘vote buying’ in S’wak

KUCHING: The Centre for a Better Tomorrow (CENBET) has called on those with evidence of wrongdoing in the just-concluded Sarawak state election to lodge reports so that the authorities could go after the perpetrators. “Failure to do so can be construed as condoning political bribery and encourages the scourge to further take root in our society,” said CENBET Secretary-General Khairil Azmi Hasbie in a statement.

Even Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for Simanggang, Francis Harden Hollis, had complained about voters in his constituency being offered RM100 before polling, and another RM200 if he lost, noted Khairil.

These allegations, if true, contravene the Election Offences Act 1954, he pointed out. “Section 10 of the Act clearly stipulates that attempts to bribe voters, using cash or offers of cash, was illegal.”

The CENBET Chief was commenting on the campaign leading to the May 7 polls in Sarawak being rife with allegations of cash-for-votes. “A Federal opposition lawmaker had openly alluded, during campaigning, to the fact that ‘money makes the world go round’.”

Vote-buying undermines the Parliamentary democracy upon which this country was founded, he added. “The practice should be nipped in the bud and has no place in a healthy democracy.”

In the meantime, he continued, it was important to enhance public awareness on democratic and electoral processes. “It’s only through such efforts can we educate the general members of the public as a whole about how democratic processes should function.”

Again, he reiterated, those with proof of vote-buying during the recent Sarawak election should immediately lodge reports with the authorities. “The police and the Election Commission (EC) should then expeditiously get to the bottom of these allegations, regardless of whether the aggrieved parties are from the ruling coalition, the opposition or independent candidates.”

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