Opposition Parties In Sabah Attend PSC's Public Hearing

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- Representatives from the main opposition parties in Sabah, including the DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), took part in the first day of public hearing by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms, here Friday.

The two-day public hearing, which was held at the Federal House, began with representatives from Parti Maju Sabah (SAPP), led by its president Datuk Yong Teck Lee, who is also former Sabah Chief Minister, making several proposals.

The Sabah-based opposition party also expressed its support for the implementation of a voting system using the indelible ink for the coming general election.

SAPP also called for the abolishment of the three-day 'cooling period' after the nomination day to prevent 'mosquito' candidates from making 'business'.

The multi-racial party was also in favour of the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate the so-called 'projek IC' (issuance of IC through dubious means) in Sabah.

While supporting most of SAPP's proposals, representatives from PKR and the Sabah DAP called for a review of postal voting, which they claimed was not favoring the opposition as far as voting transparency was concerned.

The two political parties also pointed out the need to seriously address the so-called 'pengundi hantu' or phantom voters which were 'haunting' Malaysians in Sabah for years.

The public hearing, which will be continued tomorrow, was chaired by Science, Technology and Innovations Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili.

Other BN members present were Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan On and P. Kamalanathan, while opposition team comprised PAS election director Dr Hatta Ramlee and Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong, representing the Independent consensus.