2 theSun | MONDAY JUNE 1 2009

news without borders

Low turnout, missing names mar Penanti polls

by Himanshu Bhatt
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SEBERANG PERAI: Aside from
sluggish voter participation, the
Penanti state by-election was marked
by claims from PKR and its Pakatan
Rakyat partners that the Election
Commission had tampered with
some voters’ status, making them
unable to cast their ballots in the
constituency.
PKR candidate Mansor Othman’s
first visit to an election centre, the
SRJK(C) Jit Sin in Berapit, in the
morning saw his delegation encoun-
tering a voter who complained that
his name had been moved to the
Berapit constituency even though he
had voted before in Penanti.
PKR members later claimed there
had been several cases in other
centres of voters finding their names
missing.
When contacted, EC chairman
Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said
the claims would be investigated.
He lamented, however, that the
commission had urged voters to
check their status beforehand so
any issue could be addressed before
polling day.
Another heated contention
throughout the day was the EC’s
new directive for each candidate’s
pondok panas or electoral checking
booth to be placed at least 50m from
the voting centre. The candidates and
their supporters were also forbidden
to have logos on their person within
50m of the centres.
As news of the low voter turnout
became known, vehicles with PKR
flags were seen ferrying people to
the various voting centres through-
out the day.
Surprisingly, vehicles with flags
of independent Nai Khan Ari, an
underdog, were also conspicuous.
Abdul Aziz described the close
proximity of logo-bearing supporters
and vehicles to the voting centres as
regrettable, but said the EC would
not take action against offenders this
time.
“This is the first time that we are
implementing this rule, so we will be
lenient,” he said.
No untoward incidents were
reported by the police.

Mansor will be effective

Opposition’s allegations ‘election gimmicks’
MUAR: Allegations by the Opposition that
Barisan Nasional asked voters not to go
out and vote in yesterday’s by-election in
the Penanti state constituency in Penang
are just election gimmicks, Deputy Prime
Minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin said.
“We (BN) did not contest in the by-
election, don’t tell me that also is wrong,”
he told reporters after attending a talk or-
ganised by Pagoh Umno here yesterday.
He said it is unnecessary for the Op-
position to hurl allegations about the BN
as the coalition not only did not contest
the seat but Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)
from early on had been bragging that it
would win it.
The by-election was called after its as-
semblyman Mohammad Fairus Khairud-
din of PKR, who was also Penang deputy
chief minister I, resigned on April 16.
It is a four-way fight between Mansor
Othman, 59, of PKR, and three inde-
pendents. Penanti has 15,384 registered
voters.
On the 10-subject limit for the Sijil
Pelajaran Malaysia examination, Muhyid-
din, who is also education minister, said
the ministry was mulling reducing the
number of compulsory subjects from six
to four.
“Should this be implemented, stu-
DPM to meet registrar over PPP leadership status
MUAR: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin is to meet the Regis-
trar of Societies today or tomorrow to
find out who is the legitimate president
of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Najib Abdul Razak had asked him to
meet the registrar to find out whether
Datuk M. Kayveas or Senator Datuk T.
Murugiah was the president.
Najib is scheduled to open the PPP
general assembly on June 7 and “if we
do not have a decision (on who the PPP
president is), we do not know whether
he will attend the meeting,” Muhyiddin
told reporters after attending a ceramah
MASRI CHE ANI/THESUN
dents need not worry as they will have
a choice of six elective subjects,” he
said.
On other matters, Muhyiddin, who is
also Pagoh MP, said he had asked the
Muar Municipal Council to ensure there
were enough stalls at the proposed
Dataran Pekan Bukit Pasir complex in
organised by the Pagoh Umno division.
Muhyiddin said Murugiah handed
him a letter claiming he was the PPP
president when the latter met him at the
Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang,
Selangor, where Najib flew off to South
Korea yesterday to attend the Asean-
South Korea Commemorative Summit.
The PPP leadership crisis erupted
after Murugiah, who was sacked by the
party’s disciplinary board for allegedly
tarnishing the good name of the party,
claimed he had been elected president
at an extraordinary general meeting
convened by a section of party mem-
bers on May 24 in Putrajaya.
the municipality for petty traders.
He said he had asked the council
to revert to him the revised plans of
the project, which is to be a landmark
in the town, so that funding could be
arranged for the changes to be made
to accommodate more petty traders.
– Bernama
However, when the PPP nomina-
tions for the post of president closed
yesterday, Kayveas was said to have
been returned unopposed as president
for a fourth five-year term.
Asked whether the leadership crisis
in the PPP had tarnished BN’s image,
Muhyiddin said crises in any component
party should be resolved swiftly.
He said it was important for the
component parties to avoid differences
in opinion among them and resolve cri-
ses swiftly at a time when the BN was
restoring its image.
“The BN must be seen as a strong
and stable coalition.” – Bernama
deputy, says Guan Eng
by Bernard Cheah several Pakatan Rakyat leaders,
newsdesk@thesundaily.com including PKR de facto leader
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, party
SEBERANG PERAI: Newly- president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah
elected Penanti assemblyman Wan Ismail and PKR state chief
Dr Mansor Othman will be sworn Datuk Zahrain Mohammad
in as the deputy chief minister (I) Hashim.
on Wednesday. Mansor said he looked for-
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng ward to serving the people.
told reporters last night the ap- Asked to comment on the
pointment will be made in time low voter turnout of 46.15%, he
for Mansor to attend his first said: “This is part of the political
state executive council meeting process but the high number of
that day. votes (for PKR) shows that the
Describing Mansor as a capa- people are with us.”
ble leader who would be able to Independent candidate Nai
Khan Ari, who garnered 494
votes, said that
although he was dis-
appointed at losing
his deposit, he was
heartened by the
support he received.
He said the
experience will spur
him to contest for the
Voter seat again in the next
turnout
was
general election.
Independent candi-
low on date Aminah Abdullah,
polling 56, who had made
day. allegations against PKR
before the by-election,
received 392 votes. She
said she had achieved
her objective “to reduce
the votes for Mansor”.
“PKR now feels chal-
lenged by my presence,”
she said, adding that she
will also contest again in
the next general election.
Kamarul Ramizu, 42,
who managed to get 56
effectively assist votes, accepted his defeat
him, Lim said: “This victory is not as a motivation for him to work
only Mansor’s, but of the people, harder in future elections.
Mansor
in our bid to set up a people- “This is a beginning to in-
being
centred state government .” troduce a new party which I’m
chaired
He said this at the Institut setting up, which will be called
by his
Kemahiran Belia Negara in Bukit Parti Iman Semalaysia,” Bernama
suppor-
Mertajam after meeting with Man-
quoted him as saying.
ters after
sor, who was earlier announced Meanwhile, Anwar said Man-
winning
the winner of the by-election. sor’s victory was a sign of the
the by-
Mansor was accompanied by people’s support for the party.
election.
Najib in Jeju for Asean-
South Korea Summit
JEJU ISLAND (South Korea): Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Tun Razak arrived here yesterday to attend the two-
day Asean-South Korea Commemorative Summit which begins
today.
Najib and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, were met on
arrival at Jeju International Airport at 6pm (5pm in Malaysia)
by a representative of the South Korean government, Ambas-
sador Moon Ha Hyung.
Also present were Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah
Aman, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mus-
tapa Mohamed, Foreign Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri
Rastam Mohd Isa and Malaysian Ambassador to South Korea
Datuk Ramlan Ibrahim.
Today, Najib is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at
the closing ceremony of the Asean-South Korea CEO Summit
which will be attended by business leaders.
He is also scheduled to meet South Korean President Lee
Myung Bak. He will also have talks with Vietnamese Prime
Minister Nguyen Tang Dung. – Bernama