by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya or Monday, February 21, 1994:
DAP calls for a public commission of inquiry into the money politics, malpractices and electoral abuses in the Sabah state general elections
DAP calls for a. public commission of inquiry into the money politics, malpractices and electoral abuses in the Sabah state general elections.
Sabah had always been notorious for money politics in its state general elections, but the recent Sabah state general elections had set a new record in money politics and the amount of money illegally used to buy voters and win seats.
There had also been an unprecedented level of malpractices and electoral abuses, particularly in the misuse of Federal government resources and funds for the Sabah state gener¬al elections.
In fact, the recent Sabah state general elections was: the most ‘federalized’ Sabah state general elections in Sabah history, and the fight was not among political parties in Sabau but between the entire Federal Government plus all the State Governments under Barisan Nasional control versus PBS.
The public commission of inquiry should also investi¬gate in detail the misuses and abuses ox the electronic media in the Sabah state general elections – the way RTM and TV3 became part of the Barisan Nasional Sabah state General elections campaign machinery!
The Election Commission has again shown its lack of independence in its conduct of the general elections – especially in its deliberate holding back of the result of the 25th seat won by PBS in order to help create the atmosphere of political uncertainty.
There were also very serious wide-spread complaints of tens of thousands of voters who had been disenfranchised and lost the right to vote on polling day because of various electoral malpractices – like being shifted to remote constituencies or different names listed against their identity card numbers in the electoral registers.
A full inquiry must be conducted into the magnitude of ‘phantom voters’ in Sabah and their role in securing the victory of Barisan Nasional in 23 constituencies.