Fatwa over indelible ink another excuse by EC: Saifuddin

Dec 2: PKR secretary general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (left) has described the Election Commission's statement that it was awaiting a ruling from the National Fatwa Council on the use of the indelible ink in the coming general election as a 'strange excuse'. Speaking to Harakahdaily, Saifuddin pointed out that the use of the indelible ink to mark on the tip of the finger of a voter who already cast the ballot had already been approved by the Fatwa Council as early as 2008. "The EC's excuse is strange and is an attempt to drag the implementation of the indelible ink use at the next general election. "Why wait for the Fatwa Council when in 2008, some RM2.4 million was spent to buy the ink? Furthermore, the Fatwa Council had already agreed to its use then, but they finally came up with another excuse not to use it," said Saifuddin, referring to the last-minute about-turn by the EC in the use of the indelible ink for the 2008 general election. Saifuddin said the use of indelible ink was already endorsed by the parliamentary select committee on electoral reforms. Earlier, EC secretary Kamaruddin Ahmad Baria reportedly said that the Commision was ready to implement the indelible ink use but wanted a final ruling from the National Fatwa Council with regards to the permissibility of the ink on Muslims. Last October, PAS Youth information chief Riduan Mohd Nor cited a book published by JAKIM last year which mentioned that the Fatwa Council, during a dialogue session, had stated that there was nothing wrong in the use of indelible ink. Former EC chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, in an interview with news portal Malaysiakini, had described the EC's delay in the implementation of the ink rule as a "joke", and said the last-minute reversal in 2008 was his biggest failure as an election official. The indelible ink rule is a common feature of elections in many countries, including in recently concluded polls in Tunisia and Egypt. Ink is normally applied to the left hand index finger, especially to the cuticle to slow down its disappearance. It normally remains visible for at least 72 hours, and will take 2-3 weeks for the cuticle to be free of all signs of staining.