Perak DAP convention hit by claims on possible phantom voters

IPOH: The 19th Perak DAP Convention today got off to a disorderly start after some delegates alleged that there could be phantom voters trying to participate in the state committee election.

There were also complaints that the deadline for registration of voters had been extended at the last minute.

The confusion arose soon after DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng finished delivering his opening address before some 2,000 delegates at the Ipoh International Convention Centre here.

According to one of the delegates, Kampar Member of Parliament Thomas Su Keong Siong, the registration process should have ended at 10 am but was suddenly extended to noon.

He said this should not have happened and that all voters should be given the same opportunity to ensure that the election could be conducted fairly without giving advantage to any side.

"By right voter registration should be (kept) open to all and not just certain members. We also can call up our members," he told reporters at the convention.

His view was shared by Pasir Bedamar state assemblyman Terence Naidu, who was also in the hall, who said the election management team continued registering delegates or voters until 11.30 am.

Another delegate, who declined to be identified, said the suspected phantom voters were those wearing tags with their names written in ink and not the approved name tags which were printed with their personal identification.

At the time of writing, reporters were still trying to get comments from Lim, Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming and state deputy chairman Aziz Bari.

According to the convention programme distributed to journalists, among the matters on today's agenda are the election of 15 members of the state committee, the tabling and adoption of the Financial Statement of Accounts, and the acceptance of motions submitted to the state committee.

-- BERNAMA