‘No more need for tribunal over alleged EC misconduct’

KUALA LUMPUR: It is no longer necessary to set up a tribunal to investigate alleged misconduct by the Election Commission ( EC), especially with regard to the 14th General Election (GE14) in May, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.

The necessity does not arise following the appointment of Azhar Azizan Harun as the new EC chairman and the reduction of the term of office of the EC deputy chairman and four of the five members, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong.

He also said that there was nothing to be concerned about with the appointment of political activist Azhar Azizan as the new EC chairman because the appointment was consented to by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Muhammad V, on the advice of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“We understand that the EC is undergoing a renewal under a new leadership era of the new chairman and I am confident he will improve the EC process and give ideas for the reformation of the EC and resolve the previous problems,” he said.

Liew was replying to a question from Khoo Poay Tiong ( PH-Kota Melaka) who wanted to know whether the government will set up a tribunal to investigate the alleged misconduct of the EC, especially during GE14, and for the removal of the commissioners from office as provided for in Articles 114( 3) and 125( 3) of the Federal Constitution.

The EC said in a recent statement that the term of office of EC deputy chairman Tan Sri Othman Mahmood and four members – Datuk Md Yusop Mansur, Datuk Abdul Aziz Khalidin, Datuk Sulaiman Narawi and Datuk Leo Chong Cheong – had been reduced and they would only serve up to Jan 1, 2019. — Bernama