Feb 1 – When Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy (pic) went to his family house in Kajang, Selangor recently, he was not really surprised to receive a ‘Love Selangor’ letter from Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
However, what really surprised him – and became his scorn and condemnation for Najib and the Election Commission – was the conducting a of a “fraudulent exercise” to register voters.
A closer look proved that the letter was addressed to his 25-year-old daughter Sri Vaitheki, who is pursuing her PhD programme in the British capital, London.
The letter includes information stating that Sri Vaitheki’s voting centre is Semenyih.
However, Ramasamy said at a press conference in Penang today: “Why is this happening? My daughter says she had never registered as a voter!
“This is a fraudulent exercise by the Election Commission and Najib to use this beautiful letter to get her to vote for BN. This surely must be happening to many Malaysians and non-Malaysians.
“I will be lodging a police report on this matter on behalf of my daughter.”
Ramasamy wants the EC to provide evidence as to who registered his daughter as a voter. How could this happen without her presence and the production of her MyKad, since there is no automatic registration of voters in Malaysia.
In his letter, Najib wishes Sri Vaitheki a ‘Happy 2013′ and goes on to slam the Pakatan Rakyat.
The prime minister also admits that there have been “errors and shortages” in the BN administration and promises to “arise with new intentions and motivation” to give the rakyat the best service.
“Our promises are promises fulfilled,” Najib says before signing off with “Love Selangor, Have Confidence in the BN”.
Ramasamy said this problem appeared to be merely a “tip of the iceberg”, and to date, the EC has not been able to clean up the electoral roll for the coming general election.
The EC has not also given any attention to Bersih’s eight demands for clean and fair elections.
“When registering as a voter, one must furnish his or her MyKad. So, who signed on my daughter’s behalf?
“If this is the way the EC is operating, we are going to have massive problems. Is there another project called ‘Registering False Voters’ in town?” he mocked.
“I am just wondering. If these so-called voters who are abroad do not come back to vote, how many will be voting on their behalf?”
‘Act of treason’
Ramasamy said his latest expose merely added to the strings of complaints against the EC.
He also condemned the recent revelations about Project IC to the royal commission of inquiry on unqualified immigrants in Sabah, calling it “an act of treason”.
He blamed the BN government for this, saying Project IC was merely one of the BN’s “desperate measures to win” in the coming general election.
“It is a desperate coalition doing desperate things. It seems like they are targeting the two million eligible voters who have yet to register,” the Batu Kawan MP added.
Ramasamy urged the people to check their voting status, especially the newly registered voters and those eligible to vote but have yet to register.
“I will be replying, on my daughter’s behalf, to this letter from Najib. If the EC cannot produce evidence on who registered her as a voter, I will take this matter up. My question should be answered before the coming election.” the Prai assemblyman added.
In a similar development, Ramasamy’s aide Edriana Kaur also said at the press conference that her 29-year-old brother – who had never registered as a voter – had received a similar letter from Najib.
“We live in Penang, but the letter was sent to our house in Butterworth. We received it last week and my brother says he had never registered as a voter,” said Edriana.
Ramasamy asked: “Does this mean that everybody – Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indonesians in Malaysia – can also be registered as voters?”
There have been other cases of such “automatic” registration.
Another parent, Tiruchelvam Vallipuram, had complained toMalaysiakini that his daughter was on the electoral roll although she did not register as a voter.
Tiruchelvam came to know of his daughter’s name in the roll when he received a Deepavali card last year from PM Najib, who signed it off as Selangor BN chief.
When contacted by Malaysiakini, EC chief Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said it was illegal to register a person as a voter without their knowledge.
