He Could Have Been Disqualified, Right?

Election Offenses Act 1954 Article 19:

19. (1) Subject to such exception as may be allowed in pursuance of this Act, no sum shall be paid and no expense shall be incurred by a candidate at an election or by his election agent, after the date of publication of the notice of the election in the Gazette, during or after an election, on account of or in respect of the conduct or management of such election, in excess of—

• (a) two hundred thousand ringgit in the case of an election to the Dewan Rakyat;
• (b) one hundred thousand ringgit in the case of an election to a Legislative Assembly;
• (c) ten thousand ringgit in the case of an election to a local authority other than a local council;
• (d) three thousand ringgit in the case of an election to a local council:

Provided that paragraphs (c) and (d) shall have no application in Sabah and Sarawak.
(2) Any candidate or election agent who knowingly acts in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an illegal practice.

In Hulu Selangor the amount of expenses for Kamalanathan's win alone by the BN machinery was pretty astronomical of RM100 million plus ang pow money, with only one objective: to win back at all costs. Of course, this violates the cap spending limit a candidate will allow and if this is played fairly, Kamal would have been disqualified, and BN will be charged for violating the act. And there is either a rematch or declare Zaid Ibrahim the winner.

But I don't think so and the EC is not turning an eye towards it. I have a notion that there are some people in the agency that is possessing party membership card - of the mob group - hey, it's the feeling that why there is no action at all. Or the guys are living in fear that the employers, the Barisan Nasional could be after their asses if they try to play straight and fair.

But let's look back at the Sibu by-election. 246 families, with ang pow of RM 600 each, which means that Robert Lau Jr's spending cap is already 75% to full, at RM 153000. But this does not include the other expenses to be incurred, right? With 4 more days to go before polling day, if we see more news items of BN splashing this and that, it means that by default and involuntarily, Robert Jr has violated Section 19 of this act and could have been disqualified, leaving the fight between DAP and the independent man.

But UMNO is desparate already. If I am reckoning right, They are telling EC, like puppets to turn away from the law for the sake of winning like a child's game..

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Barisan approves RM600 each for 246 families

SIBU: Barisan Nasional approved an immediate one-off allocation of RM600 for each of the 246 families living in an under-developed region in Sungai Igan, some 30 mins by road from Sibu town.

Sarawak Chief Minister and State Barisan chairman Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said the financial assistance was from the federal government.

''The Prime Minister has just informed me that he has approved RM600 as assistance for each of the 246 families from all the 12 longhouses in this kampung.

''The Barisan Nasional is concerned about all people regardless of where they are living. Over the past 20 years, I have been visiting longhouses in the state, but still it is not possible for me to visit everyone of them.

''There is a lot of work still to do and the longhouse people must continue to remain loyal to Barisan,'' he told the folks of Rumah Daniel, Tanjung Penasu located along Sungai Igan, a sub-urban district not far from the town centre.

Taib said the Government does not help people based on consideration of race, religion or locality. He said in the eyes of Barisan, all people are equal and deserve equal treatment.

However, those who are weaker needs more help, he stressed.

''Our commitment is to help everybody so that they will one day be able to enjoy the same standard of life, whether they are from the rural areas or the urban areas,'' he said.

Taib also promised the people of other longhouses there that he would give them generator sets if they did not have any electricity supply as yet.

He, however, told them that the state government did not have enough funds to allocate to every settlements and that these development funds need to be channeled in stages.

During his visit, the longhouse elders told Taib that their settlements are badly affected by floods every year.

The roads there were in bad shape and needed repair and upgrading urgently, they said, adding that other basic amenities like water supply and electricity were still lacking in some more interior pockets.