KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Monday (May 28) alleged that there were elements of fraud during the 14th general election, claiming that some Pakatan Harapan candidates lost due to a large number of spoilt votes.

Although Pakatan won the general election on May 9, Mahathir believes that his party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), and others in the coalition were robbed of victory in several contests.



“There were candidates who had been declared winners, but all of a sudden other ballot boxes were brought in, which caused the candidates to eventually lose.

"In some cases, the spoilt votes reached 700 to 800. Don’t tell me Malaysians are that stupid," said the 92-year-old, speaking at the Bersatu headquarters.

“How many seats lost? We are counting, quite a number, I can't say how many. Not just the party (Bersatu) alone (but) other parties too,” he said at a press conference after chairing a meeting of the Bersatu Supreme Council.

Asked whether the government would make changes, including replacing the Election Commission (EC) chairman, Mahathir said: “As far as the party is concerned, we will put up cases depending on the findings, if we have grounds or not, whatever necessary action will be taken.



“I understand he (EC chairman) wants to resign but if he does and if there’s anything against him, action will be taken according to the laws of the country,” he said.

On the party's meeting, Mahathir said much of the discussions focused on the problems after GE14 and the requests from "thousands" of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) members to join Bersatu.

They also discussed the direction of the party after having accomplished its mission of toppling former prime minister Najib Razak, he added.

