SUNGAI PETANI, 7 April 2009: Election Commission deputy chairperson Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar hoped today that supporters and vote solicitors outside voting centres here would control their emotions to avoid any untoward incidents.
“The situation in the voting centres is good but outside it looks as if it is out of control due to emotions,” he told reporters after visiting the voting centre at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Taman Ria Jaya here today.
He said if this continued it could disrupt voting and cause the voting percentage to drop.
“This is an abuse of the smooth running of an election in the context of voters coming out to vote.
“No one benefits. Political parties lose as people will not come out to vote,” he said.
Police are maintaining tight control at all voting centres to ensure that supporters of the different candidates – most notably from the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) – do not clash.
Since early this morning, both BN and PKR party workers have swamped their respective camps near the voting centres.
Supporters of the 13 independent candidates vying for the seat were overwhelmed by the number of BN and PKR supporters.
Police liaison officer, Supt Hamzan Darus, said there have been no reports of ugly incidents as police had tight control of voting centres.
The assistant manager of the Petani division of the Bukit Hijau Plantation, Ezzaruddin Rapar, said the company gave more than 100 of its workers time off to vote. — Bernama
