KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — The Cameron Highlands election petition should be appealed at the Federal Court if voters are unhappy, the Election Commission (EC) said today after bribery claims recently re-emerged.
EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof also questioned if the Orang Asli voters had evidence of Datuk Seri G. Palanivel – Cameron Highlands MP and MIC president – promising them RM80 if they voted for Barisan Nasional (BN) in Election 2013, as reportedly alleged in the Bersih People’s Tribunal on the 13th general election last Friday.
“That Palanivel parliamentary seat has been challenged in the petition, and as far as I know, that allegation was brought up in the petition,” Abdul Aziz told The Malay Mail Online today.
“If they’re not happy with the decision of the High Court, bring it to the Federal Court,” he added.
Last August, the Election Court struck off an election petition filed by DAP candidate M. Manogaran against the Election 2013 result in the Cameron Highlands federal constituency, which Palanivel had won with a razor-thin majority of 462 votes.
English daily The Star reported Justice Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid as saying that Manogaran “did not plead sufficient facts to support his claim”.
Some media reports quoted an Orang Asli voter, Norman Kong, last Friday as testifying at the Bersih tribunal that Palanivel had given him and other villagers in Kuala Lipis, which falls in the Cameron Highlands constituency, RM20 each and were promised another RM80 if they voted for BN.
“But, this promise was also not fulfilled,” Norman was quoted as saying.
Norman also reportedly said that his village head had informed him and other villagers, after a meeting with the Orang Asli Development Department, that they would be arrested by the police if they did not support the ruling coalition at the ballot box.
English daily The Star reported Yok En, an Orang Asli village head in Cameron Highlands, as saying that all village heads were given RM200 for transport and food.
Abdul Aziz stressed today that although he disagreed with the practice of giving money during elections, providing cash for food and transport was not considered corruption unless voters were “forced” to vote for a particular candidate.
“Who you want to vote is up to you,” said the EC chief.
“To say these Orang Asli voted for Palanivel, we don’t know. EC doesn’t know who votes for what. Nobody forced them to vote for Palanivel because the vote is secret,” he added.
Norman was also quoted as saying by news portal Free Malaysia Today that Palanivel had threatened to charge Jelai indigenous villagers for healthcare and education that were previously free, if they voted for the opposition.
Abdul Aziz said that the Orang Asli voters could lodge a police report, instead of merely testifying at the Bersih tribunal that has no legal authority.
The Malay Mail Online could not reach Palanivel for comment at press time.
