PETALING JAYA, June 29 — The latest revelations over the edible nature of the indelible ink has reinforced opposition demands for the sacking of the entire Election Commission (EC), Lim Guan Eng said today.

The DAP secretary-general cited recent conflicting reports from the authorities over the contents of the indelible ink used to prevent fraud in Election 2013, asking how many more of these alleged “lies” should Malaysians endure from the election regulator before its members are sacked.

“Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Datuk Seri) Shahidan Kassim’s latest expose that no chemicals were used in the indelible ink but only food colouring has reinforced public demands that the entire EC must resign for defrauding the people and abuse of public funds and power,” Lim said in a statement.

Shahidan had at first told PAS’s Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli that the indelible ink used during the polls contained elements of silver nitrate at the level of one per cent.

However, Shahidan later said in a separate written reply to the DAP’s Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng that the indelible ink did not contain chemicals, but only permitted food colouring.

Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, said Shahidan’s admission had effectively debunked previous claims by the EC that the ink should last up to seven days.

He noted that the revelation had also come after Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam openly contradicted EC chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof’s previous claim that the election regulator had consulted his ministry over the safety of the ink.

According to Dr Subramaniam, his ministry had never been consulted by the EC.

Abdul Aziz had previously told Singapore’s The Straits Times that it was the Health Ministry that had advised against adding more than one per cent of silver nitrate in the indelible ink, which would have made it last longer.

Noting the previous developments, Lim said the EC chief’s remarks indirectly showed that the latter was blaming the ministry for the weakness of the ink and the wastage of over RM7.1 million used to purchase it.

“To date, Abdul Aziz has failed to produce the letter from the Health Ministry that stated putting more than one per cent of silver nitrate in the ink could damage the kidney and cause cancer, a letter that the health minister himself denied ever issuing.

“How many more lies must the public endure from the EC chairman and deputy chairman,” Lim asked.

The EC has said that it was mulling over increasing the percentage of silver nitrate in the current indelible ink for use in the coming Kuala Besut by-election.

The Kuala Besut state seat in Terengganu fell vacant after Barisan Nasional (BN) representative Dr A. Rahman Mokhtar died on Wednesday from lung cancer, triggering a by-election that will decide the fate of the east coast state.

BN and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) currently hold 16 and 15 seats respectively in the 32-seat state legislative assembly in Terengganu.

If PAS wins the Kuala Besut by-election, Terengganu will have the country’s first hung assembly in history. The Islamist party ruled Terengganu for one term from 1999 to 2004.