Inedible ink
May 23rd, 2008 by MM2H
No, we are not talking about inedible fruit - fruit you cannot eat - nor inedible ink as being ink you cannot drink, but we are talking non erasable ink: those inks they use in Afghanistan, Iraq or Nepal during elections on people’s fingers as a proof they have been voting once..
What’s the fuzz this time in Malaysia about inedible ink you would say?
Inedible ink for honest elections in Malaysia
Well, Malaysia wanted to counter people to vote twice with the good old method used in war torn countries like Iraq: using inedible ink.
So the ink gets bought from India and meanwhile people can vote not needing their passport but a paper from their employer will do. Never mind how silly that sounds, there is still the inedible ink that will be put on your finger once you voted, so you cannot vote twice.
Until… for some reason or another somebody says LAST MINUTE (4 days before the election that is): no need for the inedible ink after all…
Sounds fishy doesn’t it? And even if it’s not at all fishy: these ink is paid for in the first place! Should have thought about that before, isn’t it?
We are talking RM2.4 million to buy 48,000 bottles of the ink from India. Could have been used for something else like much needed rice these days…
Why a last minute cancellation?
Reason given then: public order and security reasons… I would jolly well want to know how you can disturb public order with inedible ink, let alone what’s so insecure about inedible ink? Other countries use it as well, but then again, we are talking about Malaysia and how they do things. The grass is always different somewhere else, that shouldn’t be a motive for your actions…
Well, the inedible ink could have been used on unsuspecting voters to create chaos on polling day the decision-makers claimed…
Why so late in lodging a police report?
Anyway, according to the newspaper on Friday May 23:
Two polls watchdog groups today lodged a police report against Election Commission chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the last-minute cancellation of the indelible ink in the March 8 general elections.
Also named in the police report are two other key individuals who were allegedly responsible for the abrupt reversal in the use of the ink - inspector general of police Musa Hassan and attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail.
You wonder why they are so late in lodging a police report, maybe to balance out the last minute decision of the previous, maybe to make their case stronger before taking action? Well, we are talking 2 groups: Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) and National Institute for Electoral Integrity (NIEI). And we all know how unpopular Bersih is with the ruling party…
Well, two weeks ago Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar told Parliament that the EC’s decision to cancel the use of the indelible ink was based on ‘hearsay evidence’ received by the police… That must have triggered the 2 polls watchdogs to finally go strong and make a police report.
The future of Malaysia?
With Chedet leaving UMNO and now this ink issue, it seems that the Malaysian elections still are far from over… Maybe they want to redo it all over again using the inedible ink after all?
Sad in times where fast and smart measures should be taken to counter the way too expensive oil prices and shortage of rice…
Posted in Malaysia Newspaper |
