Thursday, February 14, 2008

ELECTION 2008:

The 13-day campaign period for the general election is adequate for all the political parties contesting in the polls, Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said today.

He said the commission took into account internal security and public order when deciding on the campaign period.

He said there are 30 registered political parties in the country.

“If we were to extend the campaign period, there are many sensitive issues in the country which may be manipulated by the parties (to whip up support),” he told a press conference called to announce the nomination and polling dates for the general election.

Polling is on March 8 and nomination on Feb 24, providing 13 days for political parties to campaign, an additional five days compared to only eight days in the 2004 general election, .

A total of 10,922,139 electorate, including 221,085 postal voters, are eligible to exercise their electoral rights to elect their representatives for the 222 parliamentary and 505 state seats except for the 71 state seats in Sarawak.

The Sarawak state election was held on May 20, 2006. The state assembly’s five-year mandate will only lapse in 2011.

Abdul Rashid said about 600,000 additional voters are eligible to vote in this election from the 10.3 million in the last election.

He said the commission had been officially informed by Istana Negara that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, gave royal assent to the dissolution of Parliament yesterday.

The commission had also received the notices of dissolution of the state assemblies except for the Sarawak state assembly, he said.

Following the dissolutions, the commission met today to decide on the nomination and polling dates for the general election which must be held within 60 days from the date of dissolution of the Parliament as stipulated under Article 55(4) of the Federal Constitution.

Abdul Rashid said the commission will tomorrow issue the election writ to the returning officers in all the 222 parliamentary constituencies.

The notice for the election will be issued on Saturday, he said.

Abdul Rashid hoped that more than 75 per cent of the electorate would exercise their electoral rights in this election to elect the government and their elected representatives as the polling date falls on a Saturday, a weekend holiday for civil servants and the start of the first-term school holidays.

Abdul Rashid said he hoped to conduct the election fairly and openly, taking into account the security factor.

“We want to continue to maintain the clean, fair and peaceful election record of this country as in the past 11 general elections,” he said.

He said the commission will spend RM200 million for the election, deploying 149,000 staff and 50,000 casual staff including helicopter pilots and boat navigators.

Transparent and durable plastic ballot boxes, indelible ink and ballot papers without serial numbers would be used in this election, he said.

Abdul Rashid said voting secrecy was guaranteed without the voter serial numbers on ballot papers as was implemented in the Sarawak state election in 2006.

“Nobody will know whom you have voted for,” he said.

He said no election observers from foreign countries have been invited to monitor the election process as the commission had no powers to issue accreditation to them.

On allegations of phantom voters, Abdul Rashid said: “It’s impossible that names of people not listed in the electoral roll can vote. If there are claims, show me the proof and we will investigate. So far, there are no phantom voters.”

Abdul Rashid said the commission would soon issue guidelines on the do’s and don’ts for the election campaign.

He urged political parties, candidates and individuals involved in the election to observe the election rules and campaign ethics and new procedures to be announced from time to time.


The new Straits Times

Malaysians Go To The Polls On March 8


POLLING DATE… Election Commission Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman stressing a point at a press conference to announce the nomination and election dates. Polling for election will be held on March 8 and nominations on Feb 24. Pix: Mahayudin Mohamad

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 14 (Bernama) -- Polling for the general election will be held on March 8 and nominations on Feb 24, the Election Commission (EC) announced today.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the election would involve 222 parliamentary and 505 state seats in 12 states except for Sarawak which held its state election in 2006.

He said 10,922,139 were eligible to cast their votes based on the electoral roll gazetted on Feb 5.

Abdul Rashid made the announcement at the EC headquarters here at 11.40am. The announcement was carried live by RTM dan TV3.

-- BERNAMA

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Sarawak CM keeps mum on parliamentary seat

KUCHING: Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, the country's longest serving Chief Minister, is keeping mum on whether he will defend the Kota Samarahan parliamentary seat in the 12th general election.

“Let see what the people of Samarahan say. There is a lot of movement in Samarahan. I have not called them,'' he said when asked on Wednesday if he would seek another term.

Taib, 71, who returned to Sarawak and became the Chief Minister in 1981 after serving in different ministerial portfolios in the federal cabinet, won the Kota Samarahan seat uncontested in 2004.

Also state Barisan Nasional chairman, Taib has received the lists of recommended candidates from component parties Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

He agreed to the candidates, with the exception of two or three which he asked the parties concerned to reconsider. However, he did not specify which party they were from.

He said PBB's list of candidates was ready.

There are 31 seats available in the state. The coalition won 27 of the 28 seats contested in 2004, losing Bandar Kuching to the DAP.


The Star



Parliament Dissolved Today For 12th General Election

Parliament Dissolved Today For 12th General Election


DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT... Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at noon today announces the dissolution of Parliament at his office in Putrajaya with effect from today until 16 May 2009; 15 months earlier than the expiry of its five-year term, to pave way for the 12th general election. Pic: Mahayudin Mohamad

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today announced the dissolution of Parliament to pave the way for the 12th general election.

The announcement was made at a media conference at his office here and telecast live on RTM1 at noon.

The prime minister also advised all the state governments, except Sarawak, to dissolve their state assemblies to enable the state elections to be held simultaneously.

He said he had an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin this morning and had received his consent to dissolve the 11th Parliament.

The dissolution of this Parliament was made 15 months before the expiry of its five-year term on May 16, 2009.

The Election Commission (EC) is expected to meet soon to fix the dates for nominations and polling.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, who was present when the announcement was made, expressed the hope that the general election would run smoothly.

He said the Barisan Nasional (BN) hoped to retain the two-thirds majority that it received in the 11th general election in 2004.

He said the BN machinery was ready for the general election.

"The list of candidates has been fixed," he said, adding that the BN would field new faces as well as the old guard and would announce the names in a day or two.

Political observers had forecast that the polls would be held early next month, with nominations expected in the last week of February, based on the EC practice of fixing only 10 days for campaigning in several past elections.

Under Article 55(4) of the Federal Constitution, a general election must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of Parliament. However, the EC practice after 1969 has been to hold the election within 16 to 20 days of the dissolution.

The 11th general election was held on March 21, 2004, 17 days after the dissolution of Parliament.

A total of 222 parliamentary seats will be contested this time, three more than in the last election due to the new seats in Sarawak following the electoral delineation in 2006. At the state level, 505 seats will be contested.

Before today's dissolution, the BN held 199 seats in the Dewan Rakyat and the opposition 20, with the DAP holding 12, PAS six and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and an independent, one each.

Abdullah said the government dissolved parliament 15 months before the current mandate ended as it wanted a new mandate to continue its development programmes.

He hoped that voters would show strong support for the BN in the general election for their own benefit.

"I hope the voters understand the issues in the country, evaluate them objectively and give their votes to BN," he said.

Abdullah was confident that BN would win big based on the government's performance and its ability to fulfil its promises to the people.

Furthermore, he said, the programmes implemented had benefited the people.

Abdullah said BN's record was good as it had managed to continuously raise the living standard of the people.

"The BN government has also managed to improve on its successes, besides having the experience to effectively administer the country."

On his denial yesterday that parliament would be dissolved today, the prime minister said: "I could not give any clue to the date as I needed to get the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong first before I could make the announcement."

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong gave his consent to the dissolution of parliament this morning.

Abdullah said: "It is not wrong to dissolve parliament well before the current mandate ends on May 16, 2009."

The prime minister also said that the dissolution of parliament would not disrupt the Chinese New Year celebrations.

Asked on the significance of Feb 13 to dissolve parliament as No. 13 is also Abdullah's favourite number, he said: "Don't need to comment on this."

On BN's candidates for the general election, Abdullah who is also BN chairman, said he had not received the complete list.

According to the Election Commission (EC), the country has 10.9 million voters including about 700,000 new voters who can vote in the upcoming elections.

For the first time, the EC will introduce transparent ballot boxes and staining of voters' thumb with indelible ink in the voting process.

-- BERNAMA

Friday, February 8, 2008

Immediate ban to ensure government subsidies only for Malaysians

PUTRAJAYA: Ten items, including sugar, flour, cooking oil and petrol, will not be allowed to go out of the country to ensure the millions of ringgit the Government spends annually on subsidies is enjoyed by Malaysians, and that supply of these goods remain ample always.

The ban, which is immediate, will see stricter surveillance, monitoring and checking at Malaysian borders in Kelantan, Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Johor and Sarawak.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal said the list of 10 items was endorsed by the Cabinet in its weekly meeting on Tuesday, adding that some of the items were price-controlled (ceiling price fixed by the Government to ensure it remained affordable).

The subsidised items in the list are flour, cooking oil, petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) while the price-controlled items are sugar, cement and clinker, mild steel round bars, chicken and fertiliser.

“I must stress that even though these items are barred from being taken out of the country, the ruling does not apply to those with export permits. They can continue to export these goods because the items purchased from factories are meant for export. They are not subsidised, nor do we fix ceiling prices for this purpose.

“However, those without permit who fail to adhere to the ruling will be severely dealt with, even if it is only a kilogram of sugar or a packet of flour,” he told a press conference yesterday.

First-time offenders face a fine of up to RM100,000 or jail not exceeding three years, while subsequent offenders would be fined up to RM250,000 or jailed for a maximum of five years.

Shafie declined to comment on what was discussed during the National Price Council’s inaugural meeting on Tuesday, chaired by the Prime Minister.

The council was set up following a Cabinet proposal for a national stockpile of essential goods and a call centre for consumers to lodge complaints.



The Star

Don't Waste Educational Facilities, Says Pak Lah

KEPALA BATAS, Feb 8 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today advised the people to take full advantage of the educational facilities provided by the government and to strive for educational excellence.

He said the government had given emphasis on education ever since the country gained independence and provided various facilities to churn out a pool of professionals to develop the country.

In the past, educational opportunities were limited and depended on the ability of the family to pay for their children's education, he said.

There were students who had to end their schooling after the Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP) as their parents were poor and the highest position then was only as teachers, he said.

Abdullah was speaking at the 2007 PMR Excellence Award 2007 presentation of the Poor Students Trust Fund (KWAMP) and scholarships for the Kepala Batas Parliamentary constituency at the Dewan Millenium today.

"But now, the government is providing all the necessities including subsidies for uniforms, supplementary food, school fees, examination fees and the Parent/Teacher's Association (PTA) fees as well as text books for all students so that they can study properly," he said.

Abdullah, who is also the member of parliament for Kepala Batas, said everyone should be thankful for the facilities provided by the government and its concern in developing the educational sector to churn out more professionals in the country.

With the facilities available, he wanted teachers, parents, the PTAs and students to carry out their responsibilities with determination so that there would not be any dropouts before Form Five.

Abdullah said the pursuit of knowledge was obligatory in Islam and as such the enhancement of knowledge, which could eventually be used to eradicate poverty and generate development, was the most important element under Islam Hadhari or Civilisational Islam.

Out of the RM2.8 million allocation under the KWAMP fund for Penang, the Kepala Batas constituency received RM430,200.

-- BERNAMA

Votes will no longer be recounted at tallying centres

KUALA LUMPUR: There will be no more vote recounts at tallying centres in the upcoming general election. Instead recounts will be done at the polling stations.

A recount is allowed by law upon a request from an aggrieved party - usually agents of candidates contesting in an election.

"We are reverting to the old system and have amended the regulation pertaining to this matter," said Election Commission deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

He said recount of votes at the polling station would be allowed if the majority votes secured was four per cent or less than the total number of votes cast, excluding rejected and spoilt ballot papers.

Recounting at vote tallying centres was introduced in the 2004 general election after an amendment was made to the Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations, 1981 in 2002.
It was thought to be a good idea but consumed a lot of time because all votes cast had to be recounted even if a dispute involved only a single ballot box.

Prior to 2004, vote recounts were conducted at polling stations and was only allowed if the minimum majority vote received was two per cent or less than the number of votes cast.

Wan Ahmad explained that the EC decided to amend the regulation again in 2006 as past experience found the process to be too cumbersome.

"There is a lot of inconvenience to carry out recounting at tallying centres. The process was messy.

"Tension was always high because supporters from parties involved in a contest tend to gather at the tallying centres to witness the process," he said, citing the highly-charged recounting process of the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency in 2004.

A recount was carried out for Permatang Pauh following a protest by Barisan Nasional's Datuk Pirdaus Ismail after he lost to Parti Keadilan Rakyat president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Wan Azizah was eventually declared the winner.

"After our experiences in the 2004 general election and subsequent by-elections, we feel it is better to revert to the old mechanism," Wan Ahmad said.

He also said recounting process would also be faster at the polling stations

The New Straits Times

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