PETALING JAYA, JUNE 12- PKR vice president Tian Chua today accused the Election Commission (EC) of lying to the public in claiming that it consulted the Health Ministry about the safety of indelible ink used in the recent general election.
He said the evidence was clear in last week’s statement by Health Minister S Subramaniam that his ministry had not issued a report stating the silver nitrate content in the ink was above the safety level.
Dr Subramaniam’s denial followed statements by EC chief Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof and Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan that the nitrate content was lowered on the advice of the ministry. They were responding to reports that the ink could be washed off easily to facilitate double voting.
Tian reiterated the opposition’s call for Abdul Aziz and the other members of the commission to resign.
“Aziz has been misdirecting the rakyat for a good two months now and he has failed to restore the faith of the rakyat towards EC,” he said in a press statement. “It’s clear now with evidence that he has been dishonest in all of his statements.
“This clearly shows the EC has failed to keep the promises it made to the rakyat to maintain free and fair elections.
“Thousands of rakyat have shown their unhappiness with the 13th general election by participating in rallies to oppose the foul play. EC must take responsibility and resign immediately.”
Abdul Aziz had claimed that the EC was in possession of a letter from the Health Ministry stating that the ink would become carcinogenic if silver nitrate were to constitute more than 1% of it.
At a press conference last Thursday, Dr Subramaniam was asked to confirm Abdul Aziz’s claim. He said the EC had not consulted the ministry on the matter.
