EC hazy over Najib's 'you help me, I help you'

EC refuses to take a stand on whether 1Malaysia NGO’s goodie bags and PM’s speech are poll offences.

Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof today refused to take a stand on whether dishing out 'goodies' in election campaigns flouts election laws.

NONEMet by reporters while visiting the Merlimau Polytechnic College, which will be used as the nomination centre for the by-election tomorrow, Abdul Aziz said that he was not an “expert” on the matter.

"I am not expert, we are not expert. There are court case also," he said.

This was despite that his commission having already conducted 12 general elections and scores of by-elections.

Abdul Aziz said this when asked about the mysterious 1Malaysia NGO, which surfaces during by-elections to organise dinner events and give out goodie bags which includes staple items such as tins of Milo, rice and condensed milk along with a poster of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The 1Malaysia NGO's main target, the non-Malay voters, have been voting against BN in recent by-elections.

'Lu tolong gua, gua tolong lu'

Abdul Aziz gave a similar response when asked about Najib's “you help me, I help you” remark uttered during a function at a field next to SRJK (C) Merlimau on Feb 19.

"As I said, I am not expert. I can't say this is definitely corruption. I don't know. (You can) collect evidence leave it to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

"I am not surprised if those who came for (free) food and get hampers are not voters.Let the agencies (who) specialises in this area check (the allegations)," he said.

"Campaigning has yet to begin. It starts tomorrow. Before that, it is not (considered) campaigning," he added.

NONEIt was reported by Sin Chew Daily that Najib had told about 1,000 people gathered at the event that: “Lu tolong gua, gua tolong lu (You help me, I help you)”.

This was first uttered during the Sibu by-election. Back then, Najib had promised to implement flood mitigation works only if BN won the contest. In the end, BN lost its grip of Sibu with a wafer-thin majority.

In the case of Merlimau, while Najib did not make any specific promises, he asked the voters to list out their demands.

Abdul Aziz said that it was difficult to define election bribery, citing the Hulu Selangor election petition filed by PKR candidate Zaid Ibrahim, who has since left the party.

The Elections Court dismissed the petition at the preliminary stage.

"It's hard to prove, therefore it was rejected,” explained Abdul Aziz.

EC chief: I've advised them!

Abdul Aziz also claimed that both BN and Pakatan Rakyat had given out election “goodies”.

NONE"As leaders, the prime minister and menteri besar made the announcement in their budget, as well as Kedah, Penang and Selangor have announced land titles and projects," he said.

Abdul Aziz said the EC relies on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police force in enforcing election laws.

"EC did not ask the government in setting up an enforcement unit (internally) as this was not necessary. We have good support from the police,” he said.

When asked if all these incidents are considered healthy for democracy, Abdul Aziz replied: "I advise them many times, what to do?"

He said up until now, the EC has sold six nomination forms, and so far only BN and Pakatan representatives have purchased the forms. Thus, he believed that the Merlimau by-election will see a straight fight.