Indelible Ink becomes Delible and Edible

UPDATED 10 July 2013

Today, the EC has stated (read here) that for the 24 July by-election for Kuala Besut, all voters are to dip their left index finger into the indelible ink bottle. It is believed that the EC thinks by doing so that more of the ink will be applied and the likelihood of the removal of the indelible ink will be reduced.

This seems to be a most illogical view of an honorable office of the EC who has no idea how the indelible ink and the silver nitrate works. Neither shaken nor stirred nor dipped will change the indelible nature of the ink if it is truly indelible and not food coloring. If it is food coloring, bathing the entire hand will not make it indelible.

ORIGINAL POSTING

“No chemical was used in the ink but it was instead replaced with permitted food colouring,” said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim in his reply to Segambut Member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng.

(read The Malaysian Insider and The Star).

This statement was made in Parliament and enjoys the full immunity accorded to parliamentarians and is intended for information to the Rakyat.

Many comments have been made regarding this fiasco by the Election Commission (EC). Right from the start, when complaints were made that the indelible ink can be washed off after the Police and Army personnel casted their votes in early voting, the EC retorted that perhaps the EC reps at the polling stations did not follow instructions to shake the bottle before use.

Note that AgNO3 or silver nitrate being the staining agent does not need to be shaken or stirred. It must be exposed to light to retain the stain or else it can be washed off. Some suggested to use a fixer like in photography development. In any case, there is no need to shake. Such reasoning is intended to fool the Rakyat at worst case or the EC is speaking in ignorance.

Umno Plans 50 Election Petitions, More Than PR

Najib dropped a major bombshell that Umno is planning to file at least 50 election petitions for parliamentary and state seats with another 37 under consideration (read here). This will beat Pakatan Rakyat’s 31 petitions being planned – PKR 20, PAS 8 and DAP 3. Filing petitions is an expensive affair and almost all the time, these petitions are thrown out because of technicality without considering their merits.

It is quite understandable for PR to want to file the petitions because they claim that they have been cheated of the results. It will be really awkward if they didn’t file enough petitions to demonstrate they can win at least 112 seats for a simple majority. Hence, the plan for 31 petitions. The #Black505 rallies have been conducted to expound on the displeasure of losing because of irregularities, foul play and gerrymandering which consequently had demanded for the dismissal of the SPR’s Chairman and Deputy and to restructure SPR to be placed under the jurisdiction of the Parliament, the original place in the Federal Constitution prior to the many amendments made over the years.

Now, for Umno and not even BN to file petitions will be surprising. To top it all, Najib said that Umno will file at least 50 petitions while having 37 more under consideration. This is the surprise of surprise. Just what is Umno displeased about the GE13 which they have never raised since the results were announced on the early morning of 6 May. They contended that everything was clean and fair and that all must accept the results and Najib called for a national reconciliation (besides blaming a Chinese Tsunami for losses of seats).

The question on everybody’s shocked minds is what points will Umno be raising for the Election Petition of a GE13 which they kept claiming was free and fair. Very strange indeed. Will Umno actually file those petitions or if this is just a Public Relations gimmick will be left for Malaysians to wonder for now. By 12 June, all parties must file their petitions with the High Court.

Final Thoughts before Election Day 5 May

It is less than 24 hours to Election Day. There were mega rallies by BN and PR in their final push for a historic election of Malaysia. Reports say that they are neck to neck in the race to the final. But is it? There are some very disturbing allegations spreading around the country and must be things that voters before tomorrow’s big day.

Malaysian have been bombarded with promises and slogans and ceramahs of a grander scale than in 2008. At the same time, problematic news have been circulated without clear replies from all parties involved. This makes things all the more suspicious. What are they?

February Roundup

February was expected to be a very eventful month, notwithstanding the celebration of the Chinese New Year. Politics take the fore in Malaysia during this time. There were strong indications that PM Najib was going to dissolve the Parliament towards the end of the CNY celebrations right around the 20th but that never happened. Electoral assistants were asked to prepare for a late March work as well as helicopters were being block booked for East Malaysian states.

We are now at the end of February and that announcement for GE13 is now touted to be announced in mid-April for a May General Election. Some say that this time it could be held during a weekday to discourage the turnout. Whatever the date may be, it is certainly an anticlimax for the long expected event.

What happened?

Pakatan in turmoil?

After a brief celebration of the defection of Bota Assemblyman from Umno, Nasarudin Hashim, to PKR last month, we now have 2 PKR Assemblymen from Behrang and Changkat Jering (Jamaluddin Mat Radzi and Mohd Osman Jailu) go “missing in action” and supposedly “bought” over by Umno, according to the rife rumors circulating.

In a pre-emptive strike, these 2 assemblymen “resigned” from their seats through a fax to the Perak State Assembly Speaker.  Then they purported no to have resigned but the letters were “undated” letter of resignations signed by them last year after the March General Election.

Today, after the Perak State Assembly Speaker referred to the Election Commission on the “resignations” of these two assemblymen, the EC decided that the “resignations” were not valid and hence, there will be no by-elections (read here).  The reason given was that the 2 assemblymen had written to the Perak State Assembly Speaker claiming that their resignations were invalid.  This EC decision may have gone beyond their jurisdiction and overturned the State Assembly Speaker’s decision.  Tian Chua claims that “in the absence of any court decision or injunction, the duty of the EC is merely to set the dates and hold the by-elections, and not decide on the validity of any resignations.” (read here).  Tommy Thomas has an excellent dissertation on this matter and very readable for the layman (read here).  If you signed a blank cheque, you are liable!

In an immediate reaction, Pakatan Rakyat gave the EC 48-hours to reverse this decision (read here) failing which the Perak State Government will take necessary actions.

As the 2 PKR assemblymen had announced they were not leaving the party and they did not submit any resignations from the party, there is no change in the balance of power in Perak (although it was purported that Jamaluddin has quit the party – read here).  However, in reality,