MALAYSIAN BETS COMPLAIN OF TECH ATTACK DURING POLLS

KUALA LUMPUR— Both government and opposition politicians complained of “dirty tricks” in the general elections on Wednesday, as nonstop spam calls to their mobile phones disrupted communications with party organizers.

Malaysian civil rights group Suaram said the spam calls, which have also affected civil society group leaders, was a “clear attempt to impede the work of human rights defenders and politicians at the critical juncture of voting day.”

While the complaints came from all sides, none of the political figures whose phones had been targeted specified who they suspected was behind the attack.

Toughest

The elections is arguably the toughest faced by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), as it contends with a resurgent opposition, led by former strongman Mahathir Mohamad.

Najib condemned the “spam calls” received by BN leaders, and said that many of the coalition’s websites could not be accessed.

Leaders of the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, on the other hand, said they received automated calls nearly every minute from mostly unknown overseas numbers, since before polling stations opened.

“This is a dirty tech attack on us, we have been paralyzed. We cannot talk to anyone… they are trying to sabotage the electoral system to deny a PH win,” said Lim Guan Eng.

Multiple calls

“The telcos must do something. We can complain to the authorities, but what can they do now?” Lim said.

A minister in Najib’s government said his phone had also received multiple calls from unknown numbers from the United States, the United Kingdom and Malaysia, while another ruling coalition leader posted a video on Twitter showing a phone receiving call after call.

The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission, the country’s communications regulator, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

“They are desperate, so they are using all sorts of tactics to jam us. But at the end of the day, it’s people’s power,” said PN’s Selangor leader Azmin Ali.

Targeted

Khairy Jamaluddin, the sports minister and youth leader of the BN’s United Malay National Organization which leads the ruling coalition, was among those who claimed to have been targeted.

“My phone seems to be under some sort of spam attack this morning,” said Khairy, displaying on his Twitter account a screenshot of a list of calls received. “Strange,” he added. “Calls from overseas keep coming in every few seconds! To prevent us from communicating with our machinery. This is dirty trick!” said BN leader Abdul Rahman Dahlan.—