Before, during, and after
I DON’T know if anybody has ever heard of a coordinated effort in the past by the then Anti-Corruption Agency (now Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission – MACC), the Election Commission (EC), and the police to monitor corrupt practices relating to the conduct of elections in Malaysia.
If there was any such cooperation in the past, it was not publicly announced – quietly done, maybe.
I would call this combination a 3-in-1 team or PACE, though, curiously, the Attorney General’s Chambers has also been part of the team, according to the statement by the EC last Monday.
The main tasks of the EC are to conduct elections to the House of Representatives (Federal Parliament) and the Legislative Assemblies of the States and to prepare and revise electoral rolls for such elections. In carrying out its job, it relies on its own laws and regulations.
However, the job of monitoring conduct of electioneering in terms of corruption of voters has been left largely to somebody else (meaning other government agencies or institutions) to carry out.
Two weeks ago, I wrote supporting the proposal of the MACC to get involved in the monitoring and investigating of election offences come the GE14.
And I’m glad that this promise has been fulfilled with the recent announcement about the setting up of an operations room in Kuala Lumpur.
What about opening one in Sarawak or Sabah?
I hope there will be a couple of operation rooms in East Malaysian towns too. Of course, complaints and information can be channelled via email and other electronic means to KL but it would be much easier for the local people, who have not got such communication facilities, to lodge complaints to an officer of the team on the spot.
A complainant may have a photo of people handing over bribe money for the return of a favour.
That would be solid evidence of money changing hands and this is the sort of thing that the PACE Team are investigating for possible prosecution under the relevant legislation in force.
A detailed report of an incident can be sent to KL later via fax, email and other electronic means for further action.
It is good of PACE to give to members of the public the chance to contact the Operations Room by emailing pru14@sprm.gov.my; calling 03-88700675 or 03-88700668; or faxing 03-88700956.
It is hoped that members of the public, who have genuine complaints to make about possible violations of election laws, will exercise wisdom and social responsibility in exercising this privilege.
Though responsible complainants are expected not to abuse the privilege by submitting fake allegations, it is possible that there are black sheep among them who might just do that.
What the PACE Team can do to avoid this distinct probability of abuse of privilege is to get individuals to register with them as potential ‘eyes and ears’ as soon as possible. The team must know who a genuine complainant is and who is not by investigating their personal background.
The police in the team may also like to educate the public that they can take action on a false police report either on its own volition or acting on a report by anybody else.
I like the idea of monitoring the conduct of people, not only before the elections or during election campaigns, but also after the elections have been held.
I salute whoever in the MACC or police, who first thought of this move. Before In terms of possible occurrences in the violations of election rules before Nomination Day, there have been many such incidents that can be probed. You name them – bribes in all forms before Nomination Day. During During Nomination Day on April 28, watch out for processions without permit. During the campaign period, watch out for feasts and other forms of incentives with which to sway voters, especially those sitting on the fence.
The day before polling is the day to watch – money changing hands.
We wish the PACE Team members every success. Their hands will be quite full from now on catching the suspects.
The public will be watching and waiting to hear, read, and see what the team will achieve. It is the bounden duty of the members of the public with a sense of responsibility to assist the team, not putting hindrances but providing active service to help the team, as responsible citizens working for the good of this country should. After After the elections, candidates are required by law to submit a list of items of election expenses incurred by him or her, within a time limit, failing which the candidate will not be allowed to stand for election again at the next election.
The expenses are not required to be audited and as such there is a lot of tempering with figures leading to a false disclosure of the actual expenditure. Watch out for fake returns of expenditure. In the past, the Election Offences Act 1954 must have been one of the most violated election laws in the country. This time around with the 3-in-1 team still in power to monitor conduct after the election, one hopes that there will be responsible candidates or election agents who will submit the amount of actual expenditure incurred by each former candidate.
We are looking forward to the day when those elected parliamentarians from Sarawak will participate in all deliberations in Parliament doing justice to their time in KL.