EC told to advise Najib on fixing polls date

Nov 23: PAS Youth has urged the Election Commission to advise prime minister Najib Razak to fix the date for the much-awaited 13th general election. “If indeed EC wants to advise political party leaders, its chief Abdul Aziz Mohamad Yusof should first tell Najib to announce the election date earlier to the people,” said the wing's information chief Riduan Mohd Nor. By making the date of elections known earlier, Riduan said the country would benefit and people could make preparation of their schedule in advance. He said it would also minimise corruption in the forms of instant development projects, power abuse and money politics. On the decision by Pakatan Rakyat states to break tradition by not holding state elections concurrently with parliamentary polls, Riduan said the move was not wrong from the legal standpoint. As such, he questioned why the EC was becoming spokesman to certain parties in advising PR states to hold concurrent elections. He said the Commission should stick to its function to ensure the country’s election process was smooth, transparent and fair, adding that any meddling into party affairs would only further prove that EC was not an independent body.