PUTRAJAYA: It is unlikely for the Election Commission (EC) to impose a requirement for candidates to pass medical screening before they can contest in a general election or by-election.
EC chairman Azhar Azizan Harun said this when asked on the possibility of having such a provision in light of several by-elections after the 14th General Election (GE14) necessitated following the deaths of assemblymen.
"Before this can be done, the Federal Constitution has to be amended. I feel there is no need for such requirement because death is something that is unpredictable. Even a healthy person can die. I doubt it will be carried out (by the commission in the future)," he said after chairing a special meeting on the Semenyih by-election today.
Semenyih assemblyman Bakhtiar Mohd Nor of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), died of a heart attack on Jan 11. He was 57.
The Semenyih by-election is the sixth by-election to be held after GE14.
While four, including Semenyih, were due to assemblymen having passed away, two were necessitated following the resignation of a parliamentary representative and the Election Court nullifying the win of another.
Three assemblymen died last year; PKR's Mat Shuhaimi Shafie (Sungai Kandis), DAP's Eddie Ng Tien Chee (Balakong) and PKR's Prof Dr Shaharuddin Badaruddin (Seri Setia).
On his take of all the by-elections held since he was appointed as EC chairman, Azhar said he was satisfied with preparations and new initiatives made to carry out the Port Dickson and Cameron Highlands by-elections.
"For the Cameron Highlands by-election, there are cropping issues like viral pictures (of alleged vote buying) and reports have been lodged with the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) and the graft buster is investigating them.
"I would like to thank those who have exposed the (alleged) misconducts and took the initiative to report them to the MACC. This shows that many are interested and aware of election offences, which is a positive development for our election process to ensure a clean election," he said.
To another question, Azhar said the commission was not affected by the vacancies of six commissioner posts as stipulated by the Federal Constitution for it to decide on the key dates for the Semenyih by-election.
Six members of the commission, including its deputy chairman, had resigned on Jan 1, and the posts were yet to be filled.
The EC consists of seven members, namely a chairman, a deputy chairman and five members.
Azhar had earlier said polling day for the Semenyih by-election would be held on March 2 involving 54,503 registered voters, comprising 53,520 ordinary voters, 951 early voters and 32 absentee voters.
Nomination will be held on Feb 16 and early voting on Feb 26.