THE Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) may hold a public inquiry to look into the conduct of the Election Commission following the controversial disqualifications of candidates, in addition to other electoral discrepancies.

Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwa at the Church of St Francis Xavier in Petaling Jaya last night spoke about the frustration of voters who felt their human rights were violated by the EC’s practices.

“It was suggested by some parties that perhaps after the election that Suhakam should hold a public inquiry to look into the conduct of the EC,” Mah said to applause from the 200 people present.

Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism director Cynthia Gabriel and Bersih 2.0 acting chairman Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari were also present at the forum “Malaysian Elections: Awakening political rights as responsible voters”.

Topics discussed included the disqualification of Batu incumbent Tian Chua and Rantau state seat candidate Dr S. Streram as well as the EC’s redelineation exercise.

Mah said the EC was perceived as lacking independence and viewed by voters with “distrust or cynicism”.

The former Court of Appeal judge said the EC had also failed to produce a satisfactory explanation for why polling day was on a Wednesday, a workday.

He brushed aside a comment from the floor that the US and UK held their elections on weekdays, saying that such a practice was not the norm for Malaysia.

“I am a creature of habit, I have always voted on the weekend. Cast your vote on the weekend, and later in the day you have time to go to church or go to the market.

“If that’s been changed, please tell me why. Why they are treating all Malaysians as fools? Why change something from the norm, please tell me why. I didn’t say it isn’t legal, but if you want to change it, please tell me why.”

Mah said Suhakam would press ahead with its plan to send 50 teams of observers to monitor the elections at “hotspot” seats despite the commission’s application to monitor the 14th general election, barring them from entering polling stations.

“Unfortunately, we are not allowed to go into the polling room. We would have to watch from outside. But because of technology and instant connectivity, anyone that has a complaint will (be able to get our attention at once). All we need is an agent to point out the room and so forth.”

Suhakam is monitoring electoral misconduct, including vote inducement, intimidation of voters, problems with postal voting and advance voting, the electoral roll, and exploitation of racial or religious issues. – May 1, 2018.