Malaysia GE13: Minds of young 'poisoned by lies' of GE fraud - EC
PUTRAJAYA - Malaysia's Election Commission (EC) delivered a stinging rebuke to those alleging that phantom voters and other incidences of voting fraud marred the recent general election, which returned the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government to power.
EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad told reporters on Saturday that "the minds of our children, our students in universities and colleges" had been "poisoned" "with lies, and also accused opposition leaders of taking advantage of young and malleable minds.
He dismissed a memorandum received by the EC from several youth and students associations as based on allegations and seditious statements, including from opposition leaders and social networking websites, according to Malaysia news agency Bernama.
The memo included, for example, an allegation about non-citizen voters despite previous explanations that it was impossible for non-citizens to have voted, he added.
"This is what happened when they poisoned the minds of our children, our students in universities and colleges with lies," he said at the commission's headquarters.
"I was made to understand that 80 per cent of the participants of the Wednesday's rally at Kelana Jaya Stadium aged below 40, with some of them were below 21 and know nothing accept to have some fun at the stadium, while the opposition leader took advantage to express his anger, disappointment and bitterness for not being able to be prime minister," he added, referring to the rally held by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and which was attended by as many as 60,000 people, according to news agency estimates.
Mr Wan Ahmad insisted on setting the record straight that no electoral fraud had been committed.
"The young people may not read books about laws, but political leaders do. If the authorities didn't do anything to set this straight, it will be very unfortunate for Malaysia.
"This is because despite the country being successful in many areas, including economy, social and politics, as well as in practising democracy, the losing parties are provoking the people not to adhere to the law and this will lead to destruction."
PUTRAJAYA - Malaysia's Election Commission (EC) delivered a stinging rebuke to those alleging that phantom voters and other incidences of voting fraud marred the recent general election, which returned the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government to power.
EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad told reporters on Saturday that "the minds of our children, our students in universities and colleges" had been "poisoned" "with lies, and also accused opposition leaders of taking advantage of young and malleable minds.
He dismissed a memorandum received by the EC from several youth and students associations as based on allegations and seditious statements, including from opposition leaders and social networking websites, according to Malaysia news agency Bernama.
The memo included, for example, an allegation about non-citizen voters despite previous explanations that it was impossible for non-citizens to have voted, he added.
"This is what happened when they poisoned the minds of our children, our students in universities and colleges with lies," he said at the commission's headquarters.
"I was made to understand that 80 per cent of the participants of the Wednesday's rally at Kelana Jaya Stadium aged below 40, with some of them were below 21 and know nothing accept to have some fun at the stadium, while the opposition leader took advantage to express his anger, disappointment and bitterness for not being able to be prime minister," he added, referring to the rally held by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and which was attended by as many as 60,000 people, according to news agency estimates.
Mr Wan Ahmad insisted on setting the record straight that no electoral fraud had been committed.
"The young people may not read books about laws, but political leaders do. If the authorities didn't do anything to set this straight, it will be very unfortunate for Malaysia.
"This is because despite the country being successful in many areas, including economy, social and politics, as well as in practising democracy, the losing parties are provoking the people not to adhere to the law and this will lead to destruction."
