Election posters needed because of unfair media coverage

The Election Commission wants to ban election posters, saying they are a waste of money. Posters, they argue, soil the enviroment and often spark quarrels between the camps of rival candidates.

We don't think there should be a ban on posters as they are part and parcel of election campaigning in a democracy. What is needed is close monitoring of election spending so that no one exceeds the legal spending limits either through direct spending or sponsored spending.

Posters are essential in Malaysia because opposition parties do not have adequate opportunity to make themselves known to wider sections of society, given the very short campaign periods. The mainstream media are controlled by the ruling party and its allies, and these media often marginalise the opposition, if not denigrate them. Nothing can quite match the extensive reach of television and radio - which unfortunately, the opposition has little access to.

So posters at least offer some little consolation for opposition or independent candidates to make themselves known. To ban posters would mean making the playing field even more unlevel than it already is.