PUTRAJAYA, April 2 – Political parties and non-governmental organisations (NGO) appointed by the Election Commission (EC) may submit their applications to station representative observers at postal ballot centres in Malaysian missions abroad, from today.
In a statement today, EC secretary Datuk Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria(Pic), said the closing date for submissions would be five days after the date of Parliament’s dissolution. He said the observers must be Malaysians, 21 years old and above, appointed by a political party registered with the EC or NGO which has been appointed as local observer.
“Each political party or NGO is limited to not more than five appointments and only one observer will be allowed to observe the postal vote process in a Malaysian mission, at any one time,” he said.
Applications must be sent to Setiausaha Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Malaysia, Aras 5, Blok C7, Kompleks C, Pihak Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan,62690 Putrajaya (u.p : Unit Pengurusan Undi Pos). The only duty and responsibility of these representative observers was to observe the postal voting process, said Kamaruddin.
“They must comply with the regulations at any foreign mission office and only observe from the stipulated place,” he added. They are also prohibited from taking any photographs throughout the process; disrupting the process or carrying out any activity which could incite chaos; and from issuing any statements to the media, he said.
“The officers in charge at the missions have the right to evict them from the premises or terminate the observers’ appointment in such cases,” he said.
Kamaruddin further added that all the representative observers’ expenses must be fully borne by the political parties or NGOs which appointed them. The EC has appointed 16 NGOs as local observers for the upcoming 13th General Election, five from Peninsular Malaysia, eight from Sarawak and three from Sabah.
BERNAMA
