KOTA BAHARU: PAS spirital leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said the Election Commission (EC) should be answerable to Parliament if it is to be truly to be seen as independent.
“I prefer that the EC answers to Parliament. It has been under the Prime Minister’s Department for the last 55 years. Why should it be under the Prime Minister’s Department?,” he said when met by reporters at his house in Pulau Melaka here yesterday.
He said this in commenting on the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Saturday that a bipartisan parliamentary panel would be formed to oversee the commission to boost public confidence in the electoral system.
In his congratulatory speech to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah on his birthday on Saturday, Najib said the government would extend its full cooperation to the Election Commission (EC) to further improve the credibility of general elections in the country although the 13th General Election went smoothly without a hitch.
The prime minister urged certain quarters, fuelled by self-interest, not to damage the trustworthiness of the EC by making unfounded allegations against the commission.
He said the commission was not a government agency or department but was a mechanism set up based on provisions under the Federal Constitution.
Najib said, to strengthen the EC’s authority and credibility, the government would set up a special committee comprising members of parliament from the Barisan Nasional and the opposition to oversee the commission.
“With this move, it is hoped the EC’s impartiality will not be questioned and the people’s confidence towards the commission is strengthened.” — Bernama