Johor Armada wants EC to be strict for fairness

"We want the Johor polls to be used as a yardstick for the aspirations initiated by Bersatu (Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to bring very significant change to the country's political landscape," said Johor Armada chief Muhammad Shamsuddin Paijan.

"We also want justice to be enhanced starting with the Johor election to produce a more dignified government, zero-corruption and free from malpractice in line with the aspirations of the majority of the people in this country," he added in a statement here today.

Shamsuddin said if the election process was tainted with corruption, malpractice or even abuse of power, it was feared that the government established after the state election would not be able to uphold the principles of integrity and the rule of law.

"We still see gaps to be improved by the EC starting from announcement of the nomination date until the stage of announcing the winning candidates. The process between the two is critical and must be closely monitored until the vote counting to achieve democracy and a quality government... without manipulating government machinery," he said.

He said Armada also hoped independent bodies or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the Malaysian Corruption Watch (MCW) and the Political Transformation and Stability Steering Committee play a more important role in the Johor election.

"We hope the Johor Bersatu election machinery (can) create its own monitoring to ensure that the party's own candidates practise clean politics in line with the political reforms in the country...," he said.