Both Tan Sri Abdul Rashid and Proton are in a state of denial that they are not independent and competitive respectively which pose a threat to our nation’s democracy and economy
____________
Press Statement
by Lim Guan Eng
________________
(Petaling Jaya,
Thursday):
Both Election Commission (EC)
Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid
and Proton are in a state of
denial that they are not
independent and competitive,
which pose a threat to our
nation’s democracy and
economy. Rashid had
challenged the opposition
parties to show evidence of
election rigging by the EC
and he will resign if such
election rigging is proven in
court. Similarly Proton has
announced that it will not
seek foreign partners and
ended talks of possible
strategic alliances with
Germany’s Volkswagen and US
General Motors because Proton
has a turnaround in sales and
profitability.
Proton is involved in mass
deception and self-delusion
if it believes it can
successfully turn around and
improve its performance in
terms of profitability,
growing sales and the export
market. However the share
market disagreed with the
Government's decision to call
off talks with Volkswagen and
General Motors by selling
Proton’s stock to its lowest
level in seven year low of RM
4.02, a drop of 92 cents or
18.6%.
A foreign partner was seen as
crucial to bailing out Proton
following its dismal
financial performance for the
fiscal year ended March 31
(FY07) as revenue dropped 37%
to RM 4.9 billion from RM 7.8
billion in FY06. Proton
incurred a net loss of
RM591.4mil against a profit
of RM 46.7 million
previously. Its cash on hand
fell 34 % to RM 461 million.
What is more worrying is that
sales fell 40% from 183,824
units to 110,358 units last
year, a drop in market share
to 32 per cent from more than
60 per cent in 2000. How can
Proton expect to survive with
such poor sales when its
overseas market is a
loss-making operation? Even
though Proton claims to have
increased sales by 22,000
units over the last 3 months,
such a steep loss in market
share from 40% to 32% or more
than 70,000 units from 2005
to 2006 is almost
irretrievable.
Proton also claimed that it
had recently secured a deal
to export 5,000 Wajas to Iran
and are assembling 40,000
Wajas there annually by 2012.
In the international
automotive market, these
miserly figures of 40,000
units do not fulfill the
conditions of economies of
scale and costs to generate
profits. The government has
been irresponsible by
refusing to take the
difficult choice of either
selling off Proton, inviting
foreign participation or even
close down if it continues
making huge losses when
previous loss-making
government linked
corporations such as MAS are
recording profit growth
Similarly, Tan Sri Rashid
should realize that he is
splitting hairs when it is
not the EC but the BN that is
involved with vote-rigging.
And EC is equally guilty by
allowing such vote-rigging to
happen and be validated as a
proper election results. The
credibility and integrity of
the election roll is the most
crucial factor in ensuring a
free, fair, impartial and
clean election. In 2001,
Justice Datuk Muhammad Kamil
Awang nullified the election
result of Likas; Sabah on the
grounds that the 1998
electoral roll for the state
seat was illegal as phantom
voters, including
non-citizens, had cast their
votes on polling day.
In his judgment, Justice
Muhammad Kamil took the EC to
task for its role in
certifying and gazetting a
questionable electoral roll,
in spite of the numerous
complaints made to the EC and
the Government to carry out
investigations into the
existence of non-citizens in
the electoral roll. He then
went on to say that “it was
unthinkable that the Election
Commission should shut off
the objections without
inquiry” and “a
constitutional wrong for SPR
to have rejected the
objections outright”.
According to the Election
(Registration of Electors)
Regulations (Sabah) 1971, if
a voter files an official
objection against the
inclusion of a particular
person, the EC has to hold a
Public Inquiry to which both
the objectors as well as the
‘objectee’ are invited. This
failure to hold inquiry was
sufficient to nullify the
election result.
After the Likas judgment, the
Government with the consent
of the EC made an amendment
to the Election Act 1958
gazetted on 30 May 2002
whereby Section 9A clearly
states that the electoral
roll, once certified or
recertified and published in
the Gazette, shall be “deemed
to be final and binding” and
not “be questioned or
appealed against in, or
reviewed, quashed or set
aside by, any court.”
In other words even if the
electoral rolls are so flawed
as to influence the election
result, the election result
would still stand. This
amendment has effectively
removed all legal avenues to
challenge the credibility of
the electoral roll. By
refusing to abolish Section
9A to Election Act 1958, the
EC is working hand-hand with
the BN instead of restoring
the rights of the citizens to
challenge any fraudulent
electoral roll as sufficient
to nullify an election by. In
the last General Election,
there were at least three
versions of the Electoral
Rolls being circulated and
the deletion of many valid
voters from the roll in
Selangor. So how can Rashid
say there was no vote rigging
when it is proven both by
factual events and even in
court?
Instances of such
vote-rigging by BN condoned
by the EC and even
double-standards in
application of our country’s
laws is evident in the
charges of abusing his powers
against suspended police
commercial crimes
investigation director Datuk
Ramli Yusoff. Ramli, 55, is
accused of corruption at the
Police Air Wing base in
Tanjung Aru here at about
7.50am on June 15 this year
for using a police Cessna
Caravan plane to carry out an
aerial survey on two plots of
land at Ulu Tengku, in the
east coast district of Lahad
Datu, with two of his
partners in a company,
Syarikat Kinsajaya Sdn Bhd.
Why do the EC and Tan Sri
Rashid not seek similar
action against top government
leaders who abuse and misuse
government vehicles,
resources and machinery to
campaign either for their own
benefit or their political
parties’ interests during the
general elections or
by-elections? Are not BN
government leaders committing
the same offence as Ramli in
using public resources for
private or non-public
interests?
(22/11/2007)
* Lim Guan
Eng,
Secretary-General of DAP |