What about the real culprits behind the indelible ink fiasco, asks PKR

After whistleblower Major Zaidi Ahmad's dismissal from the Armed Forces, PKR and election watchdog Bersih 2.0 want to know what has been done to penalise the real culprit – the company that supplied the controversial ink that washed off easily, leading to claims that the May 2013 general election results were compromised.

PKR's Rafizi Ramli told The Malaysian Insider that even if the contract for the supply of the ink was given to a government crony company, the supplier should have delivered the right product.

"Even if the company that supplied the ink was a crony (of Putrajaya), the least they could have done is to make sure that the ink was indelible," the Pandan MP said.

"And if Major Zaidi was punished for merely stating the truth, then a more severe or harsher punishment should be given to those who are responsible for the whole mess in the first place."

Rafizi, who is PKR secretary-general, had revealed in Parliament last year that the indelible ink contract was given to a Mohamed Salleh Mohd Ali, who is closely linked to country’s leadership and the Election Commission’s (EC) top officials.

He said Integrated Challenger Malaysia Sdn Bhd, one Mohamed Salleh’s companies, not only secured the contract to supply the ink but also T-shirts and caps for GE 13 in May 2013. Salleh, he had said then, was a “pro” at conducting direct negotiations with the government. He had even secured contracts from the Defence Ministry.

The PKR lawmaker had earlier revealed that his investigations showed that the contract for the ink supply was given to a company owned by a Singaporean who had no expertise on the matter.

He also disclosed that the company did not have the capital for the job and had met a Kampung Baru businessman to acquire a RM7 million loan.

Rafizi further demanded the resignation of the entire EC as the public had lost confidence in it.

He told The Malaysian Insider that the EC officials who had chosen Integrated Challenger as the ink supplier should also be hauled up.

"Until today, no one has been held accountable for the supreme wrong that happened. No one in the EC has been hauled up or punished for selecting this company to supply the ink."

He said after GE 13, even the EC had admitted it had made a mistake in ordering the substandard ink.

"In that sense, I cannot understand why someone is being penalised for stating the plain truth, which was reinforced by the thousands of reports nationwide about the ink," Rafizi said.

"Contrastingly, the punishment given to Major Zaidi and his subsequent sacking from the military gives the impression that one will penalised for stating the truth."

Zaidi, 45, was yesterday dismissed from the Royal Malaysian Air Force after 26 years of service for breaching two standing orders by giving a media statement without the consent of the Defence Ministry, and for leaking confidential information without the consent of the Armed Forces Council.

The gist of his media statement was the indelible ink used in the general election washed off easily, thus allegedly compromising the integrity of the polls.

"The politically motivated conviction and punishment, I believe, is to send a signal to the public that if you tell the truth that puts the ruling government in a bad light, you will be penalised," Rafizi, who is also PKR vice-president, said.

"Major Zaidi is one of the brave ones who dared to come forward to tell the truth."

Election watchdog Bersih 2.0 also highlighted the fact that despite Zaidi's efforts, no action has been taken against the EC to date.

"No one from the EC has ever had to account for this sham. Nothing has ever come from the hundreds of police report lodged against the EC over this, except for this particular one, which resulted in punishment for the whistleblower instead of the wrongdoer," it said in a statement.

"Major Zaidi has played his role as a citizen to highlight the biggest scandal among the irregularities that marred the 13th general election. For that, he has paid a heavy price, while Malaysia, too, has lost a fine soldier."

Bersih said it was "extremely disappointed" with the verdict, adding that the army man had only lodged a report over the failure of the indelible ink as he did not want the elections to be marred.

"Bersih 2.0 knows how committed Major Zaidi is as a citizen, a family man, and a soldier. It is precisely because of his personal, professional and societal commitment that he lodged a police report over the failure of the indelible ink during early voting in the 13th general election.

"He also wanted to protect the military’s image from being tarred alongside that of the EC – because, to him, keeping silent would be complicit to the farce being perpetuated on the people.” – January 13, 2015.

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