Tuesday, July 10, 2018

No fair elections under PH? Nomination 21Jul, Voting 4 Aug-Sg Kandis? Not enough time to campaign? Overseas voters?

Well, PH government no better than UMNO-BN...This Sg. Kandis by elections was the first under the new government but again the number of days between nomination and voting is just too short...

Remember, there maybe many of the registered voters who are overseas studying or working, and we know that time is taken for the ballot papers to be printed, send to the voters, and for the voters to vote and send it back to the EC...reasonably, time between nomination and voting should at least be 30 days...this would also give sufficient time for contesting candidates to campaign for votes ...

During GE14, we all heard about the many overseas who did not receive their ballot paper...or received it too late. More time is really needed especially for Malaysian voters studying or working overseas...

Sg Kandis is not a small constituency of 5,000 or even 10,000 - there are 51,230 registered voters will be eligible to vote, and certainly candidates need more time to visit the different areas and reach the 51,230 voters ...Voters have a right to know all available candidates before casting their votes...Is it enough time? There is really no reason to rush...is there? Campaign period should be long - maybe even 60 days. That will make it a fair election - shorter campaign period discriminates against candidates not from the current ruling parties in Selangor.

Every candidate should have a FAIR chance in elections. A short campaign period is really UNFAIR to other candidates save the candidates from the incumbent government - in this case, the Pakatan Harapan government of Selangor. Yes - they can start their 'campaigning' now ...with visits happening from MB, State Exco members, State department heads, etc ...while for other candidates...they can only start campaigning after nomination day...and the allocated time for campaigning is what 12-13 days...This is certainly UNFAIR.

I expected that the Pakatan Harapan government will bring about a more 'free and fair' elections ...

Looks like after they came into power - they have forgotten about 'free and fair elections' - What does BERSIH say about this? What does MP Maria Chin, former BERSIH chair, who stood as an 'indepent' under Pakatan Harapan say about this that happens in Selangor? 

Or maybe, the Pakatan Harapan-led government has yet to REFORM the Election Commission?

 

Sg Kandis by-election Aug 4

  • The Election Commission announced that the Sungai Kandis state assembly seat by-election will be held on August 4. Nomination is on July 21.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (MySiinchew) -- The Election Commission announced that the Sungai Kandis state assembly seat by-election will be held on August 4. Nomination is on July 21.

Some 51,230 registered voters will be eligible to vote.- MySinchew, 9/7/2018


Selangor notifies EC of vacant Sungai Kandis seat

Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali acts as a pallbearer at the funeral of late Sungai Kandis assemblyman Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei at Shah Alam Muslim cemetery. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali acts as a pallbearer at the funeral of late Sungai Kandis assemblyman Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei at Shah Alam Muslim cemetery. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
SHAH ALAM, July 3 — The Selangor Legislative Assembly today notified the Election Commission (EC) that the Sungai Kandis state seat had become vacant following the death of the assemblyman Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei.

Speaker Ng Suee Lim said in a WhatsApp message that the notice was sent by hand by an officer at about 1pm after a copy of the death certificate was received from the family of Mat Shuhaimi.

A spokesman of the EC in Putrajaya, when contacted, said the EC would issue an official statement on the notification about the vacant seat.

Mat Shuhaimi, 50, a former political secretary of former Selangor mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, died at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre yesterday of lymphona cancer.

In the general election in May, he retained the seat (formerly known as Sri Muda) for the third term with a majority of 12,480 votes, beating candidates from the Barisan Nasional, PAS and PRM.

Later, in Putrajaya, the EC confirmed it had received the notice on the vacant seat.

EC secretary Datuk Mohamed Elias Abu Bakar said in a statement that the EC would hold a special meeting on July 9 on the matter.

“The meeting will be chaired by EC deputy chairman Tan Sri Othman Mahmood, and it will discuss the dates of the by-election, such as the writ of election and dates for nomination and polling, the electoral rolls to be used and other preparations,” he said.

He said a press conference would be held after the meeting. — Bernama - Malay Mail, 3/7/2018

1 comment:

Hakimi Abdul Jabar said...

THE EFFICACY OF TERM-LIMIT IMPOSITION ON ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES

Throughout the years, I've been observing the term-limit imposition on elected public office holders by the State of Nevada, USA as a result of the 1994 & 1996 voters referendums. In July 2008, the Nevada State Supreme Court unanimously upheld term limits passed by voters in 1994 & 1996 as reported in the NY Times article. The voters referendums were the result of a successful initiative petition effort to amend the Constitution of the State of Nevada. The benefits such term-limits can be read and seen a decade later, in the 2018 article below :

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/us/26nevada.html

https://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/nevada-supreme-court-rules-on-term-limits/82457556

Lastly, a fact sheet officially provided by the Nevada State Legislature of the term-limit imposition on state Senators and State Legislative Assembly members is self-explanatory. The report by the Las Vegas Sun on the matter is truly enlightening :

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Research/Publications/Factsheets/TermLimits.pdf


https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/jul/20/20-years-of-term-limits-how-the-faces-of-nevadas-l/