The Election Commission (EC) chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah has to take into consideration the timeline to the polling date when he announces the additional requirements relating to the use of campaign materials for the coming general election.
It is just three days to the nomination date and another two weeks to May 9, and by now, most the campaign materials would have been put through the mills and ready to be put up.
A good example is the billboards put up by the caretaker Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Mansor in both Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya even before nomination day, as he is neither the President nor the Deputy President of the political party that he represents.
Does Mohd Hashim or do the local authorities dare to take down Tengku Adnan’s billboards before the nomination day?
As I see it, this is none other than the EC trying to prohibit the use of former prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in all the campaign materials. The EC does not have to say it with so many restrictions – just say it, “No photograph of Tun Dr Mahathir!”. Why is the EC afraid?