Omar. who leaves office tomorrow, likened the, commission to a "glass house" which is always open to criticism.

"Working in the Election Commission (EC) is like working in a'glass house'. If people throw stones from outside, the glass will shatter," he said.

"The same will happen if we throw stones from inside - the glass will also shatter so we are very vulnerable and can be easily 'attacked'."

Omar said a person in his position must be trustworthy as he is the custodian of the democratic life of the nation.

"He has to be fair and have enough courage to withstand pressure from any side. He must also develop and have proper distance between the body he represents and his clients - in this case, the political parties," he said.

Born in Penang, Omar, 65, was the deputy chairman of the EC for seven years before succeeding the previous chairman Datuk Harun Din.

The first deputy chairman to succeed the chairman's post, Omar Was involved in two general elections (1995 and 1999), one redrawing boundaries exercise and 28 by-elections.

He said the 1999 general election was the most challenging one for him.

There was heightened consciousness among the electorate as they were mainly young voters who are more articulate and conscious of their responsibility, said Omar.

The electoral rolls and postal votes - two issues rarely noted in the past - were questioned during the last elections.

"Now, it is much more intense. There is a difference now in trying to explain our position. In the past people accept things. Now they do not want to listen to explanation and things are a bit difficult."

Nevertheless, he is proud of the 1999 general election as the EC had prepared well despite the criticism it faced.

He also said that the two things that inade. him happy with his tenure in theEC were the clean-up of the electoral rolls and amendments to the election laws.

The most important thing to note about Malaysian elections is that the results have never been rejected by the people.

"You can have the most sophisticated election process but the people can still reject the results such as what happened in countries like Chile, Serbia and Sri Lanka.

Omar said Malaysians are law-abiding and follow the procedure in bringing up any protest in the election process.

He said that election results in Malaysia are obtained within 12 hours and the government can be formed quickly.