Wednesday, 17-Mar-2004 9:07 AM

A PUBLIC STATEMENT TO THE PUTRAJAYA VOTERS, MEDIA, ELECTION COMMISSION (SPR) AND THE PUTRAJAYA POLICE

An uneven playing field: the Putrajaya experience

The government, or in this particular case the ruling party, should announce to the world that there are 214 parliament seats in Malaysia but only 213 are up for grabs. The one seat that is non-contestable is the parliament seat of Putrajaya.

It is clear from the developments over the last couple of days that the ruling party resents the National Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Nasional or keADILan) or its candidate, Abdul Rahman Othman, contesting the Putrajaya seat. Much have we been forced to endure just to reach the voters.

It all started on Sunday, 7 March 2004, when Abdul Rahman Othman and his family did a walkabout at some apartments in Putrajaya. Some Umno Youth Gerak Gempur, a paramilitary unit equivalent to Hitler’s ‘Brown Shirts’, who were trailing Abdul Rahman behaved in a menacing manner and tried to block him. Not wanting to start an incident, Abdul Rahman just walked around them and continued his walkabout with the Umno paramilitary in tow.

Since then the incidences have become more antagonistic and it is only a matter of time before the situation becomes ugly, maybe even resulting in violence. Over the last 24 hours, we have seen the disappearance of many of our flags and posters. As soon as they are put up, students dressed in the Umno Youth Gerak Gempur uniform remove them in full view of our election workers. No longer is it done in the stealth of the night but is done openly and blatantly. And they are not in the least concerned that we are present to witness it as if trying to tell us, “Try to stop us if you dare!” And why are students being used to do this dirty work when it is an offence to use students as election workers?

I have personally been in constant communication with Assistant Superintendent Ibrahim from the Putrajaya District Police Headquarters to inform him of this matter. I in fact have been phoning him (+6-016-659-4444) whose only response is for me to report this to the Pemantau SPR (Election Commission watchdog).

I did as recommended and have been in constant communication with Tuan Haji Tamjis, the so-called representative in this watchdog (+6-019-397-6011), an ex-police officer and active Umno member who proudly displays the Umno sticker on his car. Tamjis, however, not only does not take the required action but instead asked me to remove all the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) flags saying that they should not be put up seeing that the candidate contesting the Putrajaya seat is not from PAS but from keADILan.

I then queried Tamjis on why they had put up Umno flags whereas it is Barisan Nasional (BN) and not Umno that is contesting the Putrajaya seat. I then agreed to remove all the PAS flags on condition that Umno too takes down all its flags. Tamjis’ response to this was he will have to seek further clarification on this matter. He admitted that he in fact did not receive any instructions that we indeed have to remove the PAS flags and his instruction to us to remove the PAS flags was based on what he had read in the Internet.

In short, by Tamjis’ own admission, no such instructions had been dished out that we are to remove the PAS flags but he was merely exercising his own discretion based on something he had read in the Internet. What in particular he had read and what was the source was never explained.

Probably realising we could not easily be pushed into removing our flags, they are doing it for us and now many of our flags not only disappear in the middle of the night but in broad daylight as well.

It is clearly stipulated in the election rules that no candidate or their election workers may remove, damage, deface or vandalise flags, posters, billboards or banners from the opposing side. You only need to drive around Putrajaya today to see for yourself this rule being violated by Umno.

Umno has placed their flags on our billboards. They have sandwiched or ‘buried’ our flags with theirs. They have placed banners in front of our billboards to block its view. They have even placed flags and banners in front of our operations centre to block it from public view. Driving past our keADILan operations centre would give an impression it is an Umno and not keADILan operations centre. And all this is further to those flags that have been ‘hijacked’.

Time and time again, when we bring this up with the police, we are told to report it to the EC watchdog. Though we do so, the incidences have just become worse rather than the reverse. It is apparent the watchdog is but another unit of the Umno Gerak Gempur in disguise. I would not go so far as to say the Putrajaya police too works for Umno -- but then do I really need to when what is going on speaks for itself?

Umno is getting very desperate. Adnan Mansor, the Umno candidate, the self-proclaimed ‘Tengku’ who became ‘royalty’ at the age of 22, two years before his father too suddenly turned ‘royal’, has publicly said keADILan will be massacred in Putrajaya and its candidate, Abdul Rahman Othman, will lose his deposit. If so, then why the need to resort to Gestapo tactics?

At 1.30am on Monday, 14 March 2004, a gang of Umno ‘Brown Shirts’ went to the home of Fathullah Uzir Abdullah, Abdul Rahman’s seconder, and demanded that he follow them to meet Dato Kamaruzaman Samad, Adnan Mansor’s political secretary and Wakil Calon (Candidate’s Representative). The purpose of the meeting was to ask Uzir to resign from keADILan and join Umno.

If he did not, his wife, who works for the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister’s office, will suffer the consequences. If he did, his entire family would immediately be sent on a fully paid overseas holiday and he would be given government contracts and a Petronas petrol station to run.

Uzir promised to think about it and they sent him home at 5.00am. Instead, Uzir made a police report resulting in him being interrogated at length while the culprits are yet to be brought to book.

Two days later, Abdul Rahman’s son, Abdullah, was assaulted by four Umno ‘Brown Shirts’ while making his rounds in a leafleting campaign. He too made a police report but thus far no action has been taken against these gangsters.

Yesterday, an official complaint was lodged with the Election Commission. In the meeting were five police officers plus Tamjis who sat there smugly with a satisfied smile on his face. We asked that the five police officers leave the room, as clearly they were there not to assist but to intimidate the Election Commission officers.

The Election Commission’s response to our official complaint was that they are not clear on their level of authority, they do not know what they can do about the matter, they are not sure whether they have any power to do anything, they will have to seek direction and guidance from ‘above’ as to what to do, and all the normal run-around that one receives when trying to deal with the Malaysian authorities.

In short, we achieved nothing. In fact, the meeting had to be called to an early end as the Election Commission officers received a phone call halfway through the meeting asking them to rush to their headquarters for an ‘important meeting’.

It is as clear as day is to night that nothing will be done to assist us in our predicament. In fact, the more we bring this to the attention of the powers-that-be the more blatant they act against us, and in broad daylight too. We have no choice but to now bring this to the attention of the voters and the media hoping that the publicity may prompt them to take the necessary action.

What is perplexing, in the first place, we need not even bring this matter to their attention. The Election Commission has a special unit that patrols the area to see whether any election offences are being committed. The minute they see any breach they immediately contact the parties concerned and instruct them to rectify whatever breaches are being committed. We, in fact, have received many phone calls, not only from the Election Commission watchdog but from the police as well, every time a perceived breach has been committed.

One such phone call I received from ASP Ibrahim was about a police report made against us that we are using Bangladeshi workers to put up flags in Precinct 8 in Putrajaya. ASP Ibrahim then told me to stop immediately. I went over to the site in question and discovered that flags were in fact not being put up but had instead been removed. ASP Ibrahim swore his police officers had personally seen the Bangladeshi workers. I then asked him whether they had witnessed flags being put up or flags being removed and his response was that he is not too clear on the matter but will look into it and get back to me. Needless to say, he never did.

I now call on all Reformasi activists as well as PAS and keADILan supporters to come to our aid in Putrajaya. Putrajaya is now in a state of war and we need help against the Umno Gestapo. Clearly the police and Election Commission are not able to contain the problem. From now on we will be patrolling the area to protect our flags, banners, posters and billboards and we will not hesitate to make a citizen's arrest on all those who breach the election laws. And any resistance will be met with force.

RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN

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