Opalyn Mok
The Sun

GEORGE TOWN (May 28, 2008): The Election Commission’s talk about snap election appears to be a plan hatched by certain quarters to prevent any change of government by defections or crossovers, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said today.

“That’s why I think it is important that this is not used as a device because there’s some talk that to prevent people from jumping over, they are using the threat of snap election to stop them from doing so,” he said in a press conference after announcing a RM115.2 million investment by Honeywell Aerospace here.

“Is this a device? It looks like it to me. They are saying, if you jump over, we can have snap election and you will get defeated,” he said.

“Is that the real message they are trying to send out?”

Lim also asked EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman to reveal the identity of the party who had told him that there was going to be a snap election.

“Has he been getting indications from the Cabinet or the prime minister?” he asked.

Lim said it is the government of the day which has the power to call for a snap election and not the EC.

“The EC only conducts elections. When the term is up, it has the power to decide but when the term is not up, it has no power to decide.

“So who told the EC that there is going to be snap election? Does this show that EC is no longer independent. If that is so, we will go back to the same problem that elections are unfair, not free and not impartial,” he said.

He called on the EC to explain why they are suddenly talking about snap election.

As for whether the state government is ready if a snap election is called, Lim said the federal government can call for a snap election but the state government has a choice of whether to have the snap election or not.

Lim was commenting on a statement by Abdul Rashid that EC has told its officers to be prepared for snap polls recently.

On the EC’s proposal to re-register voters to clean up the electoral rolls, Lim was sceptical that the rolls could be ‘cleaned up’.

“Whatever you do, if the organisation is not clean, it does not make any difference,” he said.

He said it is more important to reform the EC.

First, it was the Penang state government offering then Gerakan Deputy Secretary-General, Lee Kah Choon, to serve the Pakatan Rakyat state government by appointing him executive chairman of InvestPenang and director of Penang Development Corporation. He later quits Gerakan after his actions were condemned by Gerakan leaders, particularly former President Lim Keng Yaik.

However, Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng has explained that his appointment is part of the policy of the state government to offer posts to whoever qualified to serve the government, irrespective of race, religion, gender and political affiliations. This is indeed a good move as we have not seen the previous BN administrations offerring posts to any opposition members.

Now, the Selangor state government is following suit by appointing Gerakan Federal Territory chairman, Tan Kee Kwong, as co-chairman of the Selangor special task force on land issues. Tan, was once a Deputy Minister of Land and Cooperative Development. Given his expereince in the ministry, it is therefore a right move to appoint Tan into the task force.

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Residents of Bandar Mahkota Cheras have torn down a barricade rebuilt by Grand Saga Sdn Bhd that prevented access into the housing area of some 38,000 residents.

Using mallets, car jacks and steel bars, the residents broke down the foundations of the barricade made of large boulders and forced the stones to the ground.

The boulders were then chained to lorries and dragged away to the side of the underpass of the Cheras-Kajang Highway, which leads into the neighbourhood.

By 7.15pm, the first vehicle had managed to inch its way through the two-lane access road, amidst the cheers and loud blaring of vehicle horns from onlookers and residents alike.

Police and Light Strike Force personnel monitored the crowds, which swelled to a few hundred.

More roars of support ensued later when Selangor CPO Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar, who visited the spot, told the residents that he had advised Grand Saga to stop any construction of barricades in the area.

He said the public would be inconvenienced each time Grand Saga built the barricade. DCP Khalid also urged the Malaysian Highway Authority and the Public Works Department to settle the matter and come up with an amicable solution.

He also urged the elected representative not to incite the residents.

Kajang OCPD Asst Comm Shakaruddin Che Mood, who was also present, was hoisted up by several residents who lauded his support for their cause.

He also persuaded residents to remove several toppled boulders that were blocking cars going into the Bandar Tun Hussein Onn access road.

Several residents then pooled together RM900 to get the job done, saying that a third of the sum would be for the lorry’s petrol while the rest would be used to buy food.

Earlier, two photographers from Sin Chew Daily and China Press were attacked by two unidentified men, who had threatened to beat them if they did not stop taking pictures.

By 10pm, all boulders had been cleared.