Thesun 2008-12-31 Page01 Rashids Parting Shot



The nation’s FREE newspaper

MEMBER AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS (MALAYSIA)

275,000 COPIES DAILY

30 sen for delivery to your doorstep

Award winning newspaper for public service reporting and opinion writing.

No. 4669 PP 2644/12/2008 (020369)

Wednesday December 31, 2008

TELLING IT AS IT IS

pg8

PM promises review of pay scheme for MACC staff

Worldwide anger ... The merciless Israeli air bombardment of Gaza has galvanised public anger across the world, from South Africa to South Korea. In Cape Town (right), South Africans protest against the Israeli government’s actions. The protesters from various pro-Palestine groups called on the South African government to impose sanctions on Israel. In Seoul (left), protesters take part in a pro-Palestinian rally in front of the Israeli embassy yesterday. A similar protest was held in Kuala Lumpur. See page 10.

by Tim Leonard [email protected]

UTRAJAYA: On his second-last day as Election Commission (EC) chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman fired a parting shot at his critics, saying he plans to sue them for defamation. Long the punching bag of the Opposition and election monitoring groups which alleged irregularities and unfair polls procedures, Abdul Rashid, 66, is getting his legal team prepared and will act once he retires today. Speaking after officiating at a ground-breaking ceremony for the EC’s new building in Precinct 2 yesterday, he said his postretirement plan was to pursue all those who had “assassinated his character” and defamed him. He said he refrained from suing the politicians when he was in office because he did not want to involve the EC in his personal problem. “After retirement, I will be a free person and will take legal action against those who had said so many untruthful and bad things about me,” he said. “They had assassinated my character many times,” he said. He has compiled a “list of people” whom he wants to sue, and they are all opposition politicians. Whilst declining to reveal their identities, he hinted that they could

P

pg26

» We wish you a Safe and Happy New Year! There is no publication tomorrow.

REUTERS AND EPAPIX

Belt up at the back!

www.sun2surf.com

2009 welcome parties

Rashid’s parting shot

OUTGOING ELECTION CHIEF PLANS TO GET BACK AT HIS CRITICS

be Members of Parliament. “If they are MPs, they can lose their seat if I win my suit against them. “Their allegations against me are ridiculous because there is nothing I can do as it is the people who determine their fate ... not me, not the EC,” said Abdul Rashid, adding that he had been attacked by the Opposition because Barisan Nasional won. “They (BN MPs) don’t attack me ... that is why I am accused of being in cohort with the ruling party to ensure its victories (in general elections)”.

RY AVAILABLE EVE

DAY!

Abdul Rashid, who had served the EC for 25 years, had in past months made many “enemies”. There was a public outcry, demanding his resignation for the indelible ink issue and two days before the March 8 general election, his house was splashed with red paint. He came under fire from opposition politicians for announcing the EC’s 11th hour decision to cancel the proposed use of indelible ink on voters’ fingers on polling day to prevent multiple voting.

On his tenure as EC chairman, Abdul Rashid said he was happy to have served for 25 years. He repeated his call for election laws to be reviewed so that the EC has more clout. He said the EC should be given the power to spell out the do’s and the don’ts of an election, instead of it being done by other authorities. “With more power in the EC’s hand, we can strengthen the process for a free and fair election ... but this is not to say that our elections are not free and fair.” Home Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, 58, replaces Abdul Rashid.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said last night the government will review the salary scheme for officers and staff of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) who will be absorbed into the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which will be operational next month. The prime minister said a committee headed by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz would discuss the claim (by the ACA) immediately to find ways of improving the salary scheme. “Insya-Allah, the discussion will enable us to fulfil the demand made (by the ACA),” he said in his speech at the ACA annual dinner 2008, here yesterday. Abdullah conceded that members of Parliament had raised the matter when debating the MACC Bill in the Dewan Rakyat and Senate and it was their wish that the remuneration paid to members of the MACC would be increased. Abdullah said the remuneration paid should be adequate to ensure that the MACC machinery could discharge its responsibility without worrying about issues concerning salary and allowance. Earlier in his speech, ACA director-general Datuk Seri Panglima Ahmad Said Hamdan appealed to the prime minister to reconsider the decision of the Public Service Department (PSD) on the rate of emoluments and incentives offered to further inspire the ACA staff. He said a better salary scheme would be able to attract more professionals to join the commission. Meanwhile, Ahmad Said said the ACA had detained 585 people this year, including 271 government employees with regard to corrupt practices. In addition, a total of RM44 million in bribes had been registered between January and November this year, and assets worth RM9.5 had been impounded. – Bernama