Election Commission has completely misconstrued its duties to conduct “free, fair and clean” Malacca general election and has become agents of Health Ministry to prevent spread of Covid-19 infection, when this is the work of Health Ministry officials themselves

The Election Commission has completely misconstrued its duties to conduct “free, fair and clean” Malacca general election and has become the agents of the Health Ministry to prevent spread of Covid-19 infections, when this is the work of the Health Ministry officials themselves.

The Election Commission should ensure the highest voter turnout on Polling Day on Nov. 20, but it seems to be doing its utmost to ensure a low voter turnout.

The Election has a very antiquated and antideluvian conception of its duties, when it should realise that its duty does not focus on Polling Day but also on the whole campaign period – whether the electorate understands the import of the Malacca general election. By banning all forms of physical campaigning, the Election Commission is going against its own mandate.

The Election Commission should learn from the Jordanian and Algerian elections held during the Covid-19 pandemic, where the voter turn-out was as low as 30% and 29%, and do its utmost not to repeat these disasters of low election turnouts on polling day.

I would call on the Election Commission Chairman to resign in disgrace if the voter turn-out on Nov. 20 for the Malacca general election fall below 50%, for the Election Commission would have failed in discharging its constitutional duty to carry out “free, fair and clean” election for the Malacca general election.

There are now less than five days to the polling day, and I call on the Election Commission to be mindful of its duty to conduct “free, fair and clean” elections by immediately lifting its ban on all forms of physical campaigning and to allow physical campaigning which observes the SOP to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infections.

The Election Commission must be seen to be doing its utmost to ensure that the voter turnout in the Malacca general election is above 70 per cent!