Stop dithering over electoral reforms, Proham tells Putrajaya

This guy is a Myanmar

Note 2 things: 1 - it is a blue MyKad; 

2 - it has a "Tarikh Luput" which mean "Expiry Date"

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June 03, 2012

Proham in a statement today said there has been a public loss of confidence in the Election Commission and the electoral process as a whole. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Putrajaya must focus on promised reforms in the next month ahead of national polls to resolve the “electoral crisis” instead of getting defensive over the chaos of the April 28 rally, human rights watchdog Proham said today.

The ex-human rights commissioners group wants the federal government to set up a permanent monitoring committee to oversee the 22 points proposed by a temporary parliamentary panel set up last year to boost flagging public confidence in the Election Commission (EC).

It also wants the EC to set up a separate supervisory unit that includes civil society electoral watchdogs “to resolve the electoral reform crisis and the lack of confidence in the electoral system”.

“This is causing the loss of confidence in the Election Commission and the whole electoral process,” Proham said in a statement today.

The watchdog said the election regulator cannot shirk its responsibilities by passing the buck to the National Registration Department (NRD) as the lawful authority dealing with registration but must work with it to weed out “phantom voters” and other irregularities from the electoral roll.

“Proham urges the NRD to cooperate with the EC to clarify the date these foreign-named voters were granted citizenship and the duration in which they have stayed in Malaysia,” it said.

The EC had come under fire for its delay and superficial response to “many allegations of failure to clean up the electoral roll and the absence of time lines and target dates to carry out the recommendations of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC)”, Proham said.

Proham cited an independent report that showed a list of 50 people in the Johor Baru parliamentary constituency of Kampung Majidee Melayu who shared the same address and were registered as voters despite being foreign-born.

“They have ‘code 71’ in their ICs (MyKads) which show they are not born in Malaysia and they all have the same address with no house numbers, some silat centre... which makes them highly dubious as possible phantom voters,” Proham secretary-general Datuk Denison Jayasooria told The Malaysian Insider when contacted today.

Proham said it was concerned because the names had suddenly appeared on the electoral roll after May 2011. In contrast, names listed prior to that could be accounted for as they were all registered to Malaysia-born citizens and all had addresses detailing relevant house numbers and street names.

It also asked the EC to verify a claim by Klang MP Charles Santiago that 3,457 voters had been questionably “transferred out” of his constituency.

Proham said the EC must work with the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Bar Council, Bersih and the PSD to come out with proposals to amend the law to immediately give the authorities the necessary power to clean up the dubious electoral roll within the next month and on a regular basis.

Electoral reform movement Bersih, led by Datuk Seri Ambiga Sreenevasan, has been lobbying the Najib administration to clean up the election process and make it more transparent, and held two street demonstrations on July 9 last year and another on April 28 to draw support for the cause.

The government has been hit by widespread criticism following its harsh measures at crowd control and has recently taken to suing Bersih’s leaders for damages under a new law allowing public assemblies that was enforced just days before the April 28 rally.

 Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/stop-dithering-over-electoral-reforms-proham-tells-putrajaya/

Massive deception and propaganda campaign afoot that PSC majority report complies with seven of eight Bersih 2.0 demands when only one is being implem

A massive deception and propaganda campaign is afoot, making full use of public funding and mobilising the mainstream media and Barisan Nasional cybertroopers, to create the impression that the majority report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reform complies with seven of the eight Bersih 2.0 Demands for clean, free and fair elections when in actual fact, only one is being implemented.

The only one of the eight Bersih 2.0 Demands which is being implemented is Bersih 2.0 Demand 3 on “Use of Indelible ink” while the other seven Bersih 2.0 Demands are either given partial and unsatisfactory responses, or mere lip-service and meaningless recognition or outright rejection as in Bersih 2.0 Demand 4 on “Minimum 21 days campaign period”.

The eight Bersih 2.0 Demands that motivated 50,000 Malaysians transcending race, religion and region to support the historic July 9, 2011 Bersih 2.0 rally were:

1. Clean the electoral roll

2. Reform postal ballot

3. Use of indelible ink

4. Minimum 21 days campaign period

5. Free and fair access to media

6. Strengthen public institutions

7. Stop corruption

8. Stop dirty politics

The best example of the failure of the PSC majority report to address the core demand for a clean, free and fair election is Bersih 2.0 Demand 1 on “Clean the electoral roll”, which states:

“The electoral roll is marred with irregularities such as deceased persons and multiple persons registered under a single address or non-existent addresses.
“The electoral roll must be revised and updated to wipe out these ‘phantom voters’. The rakyat have a right to an electoral roll that is an accurate reflection of the voting population.”

This is also why Pakatan Rakyat parties of DAP, PKR and PAS fully supported the three Pakatan Rakyat MPs on the PSC, Loke Siew Fook (Rasah), Mohamed Azmin (Gombak) and Dr. Mohd Hatta (Kuala Krai) in their effort to append a minority report, as the PSC majority report had failed to deal with the crux of the problem to ensure clean, free and fair elections and guarantee a clean, comprehensive and legitimate electoral roll in the 13th general election.

The fatal weakness of the PSC majority report is its failure to acknowledge the many problems in the electoral roll and the total absence of a commitment to address all of these problems before the 13GE since they can affect the balance of power in the upcoming General Election.

The fact that there are significant problems with the Malaysian electoral roll is not something new. Allegations of phantom voters and illegal immigrants being given fake ICs in order to register themselves as voters have been well documented. For example, the election results in the state seat of Likas in the 1999 Sabah state election was declared invalid by the Election Court because of the presence of phantom voters in the electoral roll.

Given these past problems with the electoral roll, it is highly inappropriate for the PSC majority report to only highlight just one problem to do with the electoral roll which is addresses which have more than 50 registered voters.

The PSC majority report blatantly ignores the other problems with the electoral roll which have been discovered including:

1. Over 31,000 names which have been shifted from state and/or parliament constituency to another without their knowledge as a result of the ‘stealth correction’ of boundary lines of state and parliamentary constituencies by the Election Commission which is illegal and unconstitutional

2. The failure of the Election Commission to delete over 42,000 names of voters whose citizenship status cannot be verified by the National Registration Department (NRD).

3. The failure of the Election Commission to verify the status of over 65,000 voters aged 85 years and above including over 1000 who are more than 100 years old.

4. Over 15,000 names whose IC numbers show a different gender than the Election Commission records.

5. Over 4500 names of spouses of police who are registered as postal voters when they are clearly not entitled to this right.

Pakatan Rakyat has provided concrete evidence of all these problems but they have not been recognized in the PSC majority report.

The total number of voters associated with these problems adds up to over 150,000 and many of them are located in marginal or swing constituencies that will be closely contested in the next general election.

More worrying is the high possibility that these problems are only the tip of the iceberg underneath which hides massive electoral fraud.

Sabah after the 1990 election and Terengganu after the 1999 election are just two examples where there were sudden increases in the number of voters in the electoral roll in the states to enable the BN to win back the state government from the Opposition.

Now we see the same pattern being repeated in the state of Selangor leading up to the 13th general election.

The number of voters in Sabah increased by 17.6% from 1990 to 1995 compared to the national average of 13.0%. This was after PBS left the BN coalition prior to the 1990 Sabah state elections and was in charge of the state government from 1990 to 1994.

In the state of Terengganu, the number of voters increased by a whopping 17.7% from 1999 to 2004 compared to a national average of 7.3%. Again, it is noteworthy that the state of Terengganu had fallen to the opposition during the 1999 general elections.

In 1999, the opposition won 28 out of 32 state seats and all 8 parliamentary seats. In 2004, after this massive increase in the number of voters, the opposition won only 1 parliamentary and 4 state seats, an almost total reverse of the 1999 general election results.

In Selangor, according to the 4th quarter 2011 electoral roll, the number of voters has increased by over 340,000 to more than 1.9 million voters since the 2008 general election.

This represents an increase of 21.8% compared to a national average of 16.3%. Some of these increases have occurred in areas which limited increases in the number of new housing estates and population inflows. For example, the seat of Hulu Selangor, a marginal parliamentary seat, saw an increase of more than 17,000 voters or 27.1% from the 2008 general election to the 4th Quarter 2011 electoral roll.

It was reported that over 1,100 voters Permanent Residents were included in the electoral roll in Selangor including one ‘Mismah’ whose status was quickly upgraded from PR to Citizen upon the discovery of her inclusion in the electoral roll.

These examples highlight the possibility of large scale systematic cheating with the intention of recapturing the state government of Selangor. Again, what has been discovered so far may only be the tip of the iceberg.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had argued in Parliament that the fact that five state governments fell to the opposition in 2008 was proof that the electoral rolls are not tainted. One should ask whether the opposition could have won control of more states and perhaps even the federal government if the electoral roll were totally clear of phantom voters.

BN is fighting for its political survival and would do anything to remain in power including padding the electoral roll with phantom voters using various tricks and strategies. It is essential that the electoral roll be clear of these phantom voters to ensure that the upcoming 13th general election does not turn out to be a massive electoral fraud in the making.

The exclusion of the highlighting of these problems in the PSC Report on Electoral Reform makes a mockery of the intent to deliver a freer and fairer electoral system to Malaysians.

Source: http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2012/04/04/massive-deception-and-propaganda-campaign-afoot-that-psc-majority-report-complies-with-seven-of-eight-bersih-2-0-demands-when-only-one-is-being-implemented/

Response From Bersih 2.0 To The Recommendations Of The Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform has formulated 22 recommendations to improve the electoral system in Malaysia.

Overall, BERSIH 2.0 notes that many of the recommendations involve the Election Commission implementing the proposed reforms or undertaking further study into various matters, and reporting back to a Parliamentary Select Committee to be established to monitor the implementation of the recommendations.

This has 2 obvious drawbacks. Firstly, it relies on the existing Election Commission carrying out these recommendations. Time and again, the existing Election Commission has shown itself to be incapable or unwilling to initiate reforms of the electoral system. We question whether the existing Election Commission has sufficient credibility to commit itself to undertaking the proposed recommendations.

Secondly, BERSIH 2.0 is of the belief that many of the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Select Committee can be immediately implemented. We do not see the need to provide for a lengthy implementation period. We reiterate that BERSIH 2.0 has demanded that reforms should be implemented BEFORE the 13th General Elections are held.

We note that while some recommendations do provide for a time-frame to report back, many others do not. The lack of a time-line merely prolongs the dissatisfaction and lack of confidence in the electoral system, and adds to the frustration of the rakyat.

Specifically, BERSIH 2.0 would make their initial response to the 22 recommendations as follows:-

1. OVERSEAS VOTERS

The main proposal, namely to allow overseas voters to vote, should be immediately implemented. The right to vote should be unconditional, and any imposition of conditions would be unconstitutional.

BERSIH 2.0, Tindak Malaysia and Malaysian Overseas Voter have submitted detailed proposals as to how voting for overseas Malaysians may be carried out, and we do not see the need for further study on this matter as it will only serve to delay implementation. If the Election Commission is unable to handle the voting by Malaysians living abroad, civil society organisations are prepared to do it on the Election Commission’s behalf, so long as they are adequately resourced financially.

Provisions already exist to allow Malaysians living overseas to register as voters. Malaysian missions abroad should be immediately instructed to receive such applications, and to comply with a standardised procedure that needs to be urgently clarified.

2. POSTAL VOTING FOR ELECTION COMMISSION STAFF AND THE MEDIA

The current categories of permissible postal voters in respect of those living within Malaysia – police/military personnel and their spouses, staff of the Election Commission – should be re-classified as advance voters. Advance voters should only be allowed to vote in the constituencies in which they are registered by the Election Commission and gazetted.

BERSIH 2.0 and Tindak Malaysia have suggested that the category of advance voters should be extended to election candidates, election agents, polling agents, counting agents, booth observer and candidates’ nominees on the Election Commission enforcement teams.

Personnel on duty at polling stations should come from a mix of Election Commission staff and members of civil society/the public resident in that constituency.

We do not agree that members of the media enjoy the right to be registered as postal or advance voters.

It is noted that the question of the integrity of the postal vote system has not been thoroughly examined. The postal vote system has in the past created a great amount of suspicion. One would have thought that it is best for transparency that the categories of advance voters and postal voters be reduced, not increased.

3. DISTANCE VOTING

We are in favour of distance voting. The logistics relating to distance voting are not too difficult provided there exists the requisite political will.

BERSIH 2.0 and Tindak Malaysia have already submitted proposals and logistical solutions to the issue of distance voting, via the Second Memorandum to the Parliamentary Select Committee, on 21 March 2012. We do not see the need for further study. The provisions to permit distance voting can be implemented once the relevant regulations are amended. Our Second Memorandum already contains the draft amendments to the existing regulations.

4. PRE-REGISTRATION OF CITIZENS AS VOTERS ON REACHING THE AGE OF 20 YEARS

We are of the view that this is not necessary. Focus instead should be placed on automatic registration of voters when they reach the age of 21. Attention should also be paid to our proposal to reduce the qualifying age for voting to 18 years.

5. DATE OF DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT

We are of the view that in a functioning democracy, provision has to be made for circumstances in which the government of the day may lose a motion of no confidence. Introducing provisions that Parliament can only be dissolved after the completion of at least 4 years of a 5-year term of office may lead to an unpopular government being allowed to cling onto power.

6. CARETAKER GOVERNMENT

We wholly support the concept of a caretaker government, but do not feel that this is within the ambit of the Election Commission. There must be political consensus on the aim of implementing the concept of a caretaker government – to achieve political neutrality during the election campaign period, with no new spending commitments, no new projects announced. There will also have to be political agreement on its composition

7. ENFORCEMENT OF EXISTING REGULATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFENCE OF GIVING FALE INFORMATION IN REGISTRATION MATTERS

All the necessary information to be provided during the registration of new voters or registration of a change of address should be based on the particular contained in the MyKad or the relevant change of address notification issued by the National Registration Department. There is no need for any additional information.

We are more concerned about what has not been addressed by the Parliamentary Select Committee, which is more critical, namely the existence of false and duplicate identities within the database of the National Registration Department. This raises questions about the integrity of the National Registration Department’s database, upon which the Election Commission relies.

8. EXTENDING THE CAMPAIGN PERIOD

We have called for a minimum campaign period of 21 days.

In determining the minimum campaign period, consideration must be given to the number of days required in order to allow an overseas voter to receive his/her ballot paper, mark it, and return it by post to the Returning Officer of his/her voting constituency before 5pm on election day. Any campaign period less than the number of days required for this to be reasonably undertaken would make a mockery of the right of overseas voters to cast postal ballots. This should be one of the minimum criteria to determine the length of the campaign period.

A decision on the campaign period, which we would remind is something that is decided by the Election Commission, should also take into consideration the provision of sufficient time for election candidates to disseminate their election messages to the electorate and for the voter to consider the issues.

The argument of the costs associated with a prolonged election campaign period is a false one. The bulk of the labour costs of carrying out an election is not dependent on the length of the campaign period. Such costs would be incurred on polling day itself, however long or short the campaign period is. Other fixed costs would remain unchanged, and so are also not dependent on the length of the campaign period.

In any event, elections are of sufficient importance that the cost of carrying one out should not be a primary consideration.

The costs incurred by political parties and election candidates should not be a consideration. Where candidates are concerned, existing regulations already prescribe financial limits for election campaign-related expenditure.

9. FREE AND EQUITABLE MEDIA ACCESS

There should be fair and equitable coverage of the election campaign of candidates and political parties, and no biased reporting. This recommendation can and must be implemented immediately. There must be a public commitment by the relevant Ministry that this be done. We are pleased that the Parliamentary Select Committee has made reference to Article 115(2) of the Federal Constitution and has called upon the Election Commission to exercise their power under these provisions.

10. ON-GOING MONITORING OF THE ELECTORAL ROLL

Currently the postal voter roll is separate from the principal electoral roll. This should be unified so that duplication of electors cannot arise.

The work done by MIMOS in electronically interrogating the electoral rolls has been too simplistic, resulting in minimal errors being identified. It appears that only a comparison of the 12-digit MyKad numbers was carried out.

The testing of the data requires more thorough and detailed parameters. For example, testing should be done to see if there is a duplication of the old NRIC numbers. Testing should also be done to search for identical names, and a high degree of matching of the 12-digit MyKad numbers to eliminate for possible duplicate registrations.

For police and military personnel, the 12-digit MyKad numbers and the numbers of military or police identity card should also be listed to check for possible duplicate registrations. This does not appear to have been done either.

Postal addresses should be complete. It is the duty of the Election Commission to ensure that all data are comprehensively entered. We are disturbed that the Election Commission has cited clerical errors to explain away discrepancies in the electoral roll. Entry checking by 2 separate personnel should have been undertaken to eliminate clerical errors. Physical site verification of addresses of new voters should also have been carried out.

Minor variations in how postal addresses are entered into the database have also led to duplicate registration of electors.

The monitoring of the work of the Election Commission with respect to the electoral rolls should be performed by an independent audit committee.

It is disappointing that the Parliamentary Select Committee has not addressed its mind fully to the instances of fraud that have been highlighted publicly to-date. The Election Commission ought to have been taken to task over this and immediate steps must be taken to address this vital issue. As it stands, BERSIH 2.0 is of the view that we cannot proceed to the 13th General Elections based on this electoral roll.

11. INSPECTION OF THE ELECTORAL ROLL FOR ADDRESSES WITH MULTIPLE ELECTORS

We question why inspection should only begin for addresses that have more than 50 registered electors. Since this inspection is undertaken in order to identify addresses with multiple electors, inspection could just as easily start for addresses with more than 11 electors. More work would have to be done, but as the intention is to identify addresses for further investigation, a lower number would generate more addresses for which electors may be verified.

There is no need to allow for a period of 45 days to complete such investigations. A period of 21 days would suffice.

12. OBJECTIONS TO VALIDATED ELECTORAL ROLLS

The Chief Registrar already has adequate discretionary power under Regulation 25 of the Registration of Electors Regulations to cause the registration of suspicious electors to be investigated even after the electoral rolls have been validated. There is no need to study the granting of additional powers.

13. STUDYING AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION

We have called for the automatic registration of electors upon their attaining the age of 21 years. There is no reason for any delay in implementing this. If the government is of the view that an amendment to the Federal Constitution is required in order to achieve this, this can be speedily accomplished if there is sufficient support for this proposal from all political parties represented in Parliament.

14. UTILISATION OF AN ADDRESS OTHER THAN THE ADDRESS ON THE IDENTITY CARD TO DETERMINE A PERSON’S ELECTORAL CONSTITUENCY

This deals with the question of which constituency a person should vote in, in cases where a person does not reside at the address contained in his MyKad.

BERSIH 2.0 and Tindak Malaysia have already proposed solutions to the Parliamentary Select Committee on this issue, namely the various alternatives of advance voting, distance voting and postal voting for overseas Malaysians. Instead of adopting the solutions offered, the Parliamentary Select Committee appears to be skirting the issue.

The decision on which constituency a voter should be registered in must be based on the address shown on the MyKad or on any change of address notified to the National Registration Department.

Apart from advance voting, distance voting and postal voting, BERSIH 2.0 and Tindak Malaysia have suggested that an elector may register with the Election Commission his or her choice of which polling station at which to vote, so long as it is a polling station within the same constituency. In cases of large geographical constituencies, this may make it easier for a person to cast his or her vote, rather than having to return to the polling station nearest the registered residential address.

15. STRENGHTENING THE POSITION OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION

Members of the Election Commission must enjoy public confidence, and must be able to ensure that elections are carried out in a free and fair manner. In the event that they cease to enjoy public confidence, they should resign or be removed.

The Election Commission supervises the election of members of Parliament and state legislative assemblies. As such, the Election Commission should be independent of Parliament. The Election Commission should have and manage its own budget, which should not be scrutinised by Parliament, but audited by the Auditor-General.

There should be a committee comprising non-politicians charged with the responsibility of receiving nominations for membership of the Election Commission and which would make recommendations to the Yang DiPertuan Agong. Past and present members of political parties and serving or retired civil servants should not be eligible to be nominated as members of the Election Commission. The non-involvement of the Prime Minister in the appointment process should be emphasized in order to ensure that the Election Commission is independent.
16. STRUCTURING AND STRENGTHENING OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION

A detailed study of the human resource capacity and performance of the Election Commission is needed before any recommendation of an increase in its staff numbers can be accepted.

In any event, if the recommendation to separate the 3 main functions of the Election Commission is accepted (see item 18 below), then the number of Election Commission staff could actually be reduced, rather than increased. We are deeply alarmed by reports that there has been an increase in the number of staff of the Election Commission by 100,000 people, to 240,000. This in itself is a sizeable block of postal voters that gives cause for grave concern.

The staffing of the Election Commission should be independent of government. The Election Commission should have its own funding, staff and salary scheme.

17. WIDENING THE WORK OF THE ELECTIONS ACADEMY

Although the Election Academy has been in existence since 2007, there is no evidence of active voter education programmes carried out by the Election Commission. On the other hand, civil society organizations have been active and have taken the lead in voter education.

It would be preferable if the government provides funding for civil society to continue with their voter education programmes, instead of continuing with the Elections Academy.

18. SEPARATION OF THE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION

We concur with the recommendation that the 3 main functions of the Election Commission be separated and distributed to 3 separate bodies.

19. DISTRIBUTION OF SEATS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE STATES OF SABAH AND SARAWAK

This issue should be deferred until the Royal Commission of Inquiry has completed its investigations and delivered its findings into the systematic abuse of the granting of citizenship to foreigners, otherwise known as “Project IC”, in Sabah.

20. BALANCED ELECTORAL DELINEATION

Each electoral constituency should consist of approximately the same number of population. There should no longer be any need for any rural weightage in this day and age. The principle of “one person one vote” should be upheld without exception.

21. PROVISION OF FUNDING TO POLITICAL PARTIES

Election funding to political parties should be provided based on the proportion of the popular vote obtained by each political party in the previous general election. Political parties should not be allowed to utilize any other funding for an election campaign.

22. NEW ELECTORAL SYSTEM

We agree that studies should be carried out on alternative electoral systems.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

BERSIH 2.0 is disappointed that the following key issues were not with dealt with at all or were not dealt with in sufficient depth:-

(a) The instances of manipulation of the electroral roll by removing names, changing polling station boundaries, and other such obvious discrepancies. A thorough study ought to have been conducted into the processes of the Election Commission and the National Registration Department.

(b) No reference whatsoever is made in the report about foreigners being given citizenship for their vote in Semenanjung Malaysia. Whilst the problem is acknowledged to exist in Sabah, there is no reference to Semenanjung Malaysia, where the issue is also of relevance.

(c) Nothing is said in the Parliamentary Select Committee’s report about election offences and the enforcement of the Election Offences Act 1954 as it now stands. There ought to also have been a study into the types of such offences being committed, and recommendations on how to prevent them. Although there is a suggestion that the Election Commission be given more powers to deal with such issues, the Parliamentary Select Committee does not seek to identify the problems and the clear infringements of the Act.

(d) There is no mention of how to stop dirty politics save for a reference to a Code to be drawn up in relation to a Caretaker Government. In fact there ought to be a code of conduct in relation to all candidates and political parties. An example of such a code of conduct, from India, was given by BERSIH 2.0 to the Parliamentary Select Committee.

(e) There is no reference to the inviting of International Observers. Malaysia was recently invited to send election observers to observe the recenty-concluded by-elections in Myanmar. On a previous occasion Malaysian observers were invited to observe the general elections in Thailand. If we subscribe to and endorse the principle of having international observers by our participation in such missions, then Malaysia’s reticence in inviting international observers is wholly inexplicable.

(f) We are shocked at the manner in which the Parliamentary Select Committee’s report was received and adopted by the Dewan Rakyat on 3 April 2012, without any debate. Further, we deplore the decision by the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat not to permit the inclusion of a Minority Report together with the Parliamentary Select Committee’s report. The continued lack of respect of contrary views bodes ill for the development of a strong and vibrant Parliamentary democracy in Malaysia. The fact that there was no debate on the Parliamentary Select Committee’s report suggests that the majority in Parliament are none too concerned about the nature and extent of fraud and other irregularities in connection with the electoral rolls and the conduct of elections in Malaysia. The majority in Parliament do not appear to appreciate the need to strengthen the electoral process in Malaysia.

(g) Given thus, BERSIH 2.0 is of the view that it is highly likely that the electoral fraud and other irregularities that are currently being perpetrated in Malaysia, and which have been and continue to be the concern of decent, fair-minded and peace-loving Malaysians, will continue unabated. A golden opportunity to right the wrongs and do something good for the benefit of Malaysians now and in the future has sadly been missed.

Salam BERSIH 2.0

Steering Committee, Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0)

The Steering Committee of BERSIH 2.0 comprises:

Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan (Co-Chairperson), Datuk A. Samad Said (Co-Chairperson), Ahmad Shukri Abdul Razab, Andrew Khoo, Arul Prakkash, Arumugam K., Dr Farouk Musa, Liau Kok Fah, Maria Chin Abdullah, Richard Y W Yeoh, Dr Subramaniam Pillay, Dato’ Dr Toh Kin Woon, Dr Wong Chin Huat, Dato’ Yeo Yang Poh and Zaid Kamaruddin.

Source: http://bersih.org/?p=4627#comment-14911

PSC must adopt all Bersih’s demands

Bersih 2.0 3:32PM Dec 2, 2011

Bersih 2.0 welcomes certain reforms adopted by the interim report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Electoral Reform. However, based on news report, out of Bersih 2.0’s 8 demands, only one is fully adopted while two others are partially adopted but five other demands have yet to be included. The one demand fully adopted is the implementation of indelible ink.

A demand that is partially addressed is the cleaning up of the Electoral Rolls, whereby a thorough audit of the electoral rolls is proposed but without a long-term mechanism. While the removal of RM10 fee for objection of each new voter is adopted, other proposals by Bersih 2.0 are yet to be addressed. These other proposals are:

a. Automatic voter registration, without which 3.7 million eligible citizens will be disenfranchised.

b. A monthly revision of the supplementary electoral roll instead of the current duration of 3 months to ensure timely inclusion of new voters (with or without automatic voter registration).

c. Supplementary electoral roll should be displayed both online and on location in enable easy access for voters. While the PSC interim report recommends for the display time to be extended from 7 days to 14 days, Bersih 2.0 recommends that display time should be a minimum period of 30 days.

d. Certified principal and supplementary rolls must be open for challenge in court and subject to a transparent process of objection and claim.

e. Setting up of an independent auditing committee to maintain and enhance integrity and accuracy of electoral rolls, rather than leaving the regular power of cleaning up at the end of the Election Commission (EC)

f. Reducing the cost of purchasing electoral rolls to enhance public scrutiny.

The other demand partially adopted is reform of absentee voting. We welcome the extension of such right to all Malaysians living overseas and East Malaysians living in Peninsula Malaysia and vice versa. In relation to absentee voting, we would like the PSC final report to make these specific recommendations:

a. In principle, the current practice of separate ordinary voter and permanent postal voters in the electoral rolls, which makes manipulation and intimidation easy, must end. All voters should be on one roll with the right to apply for absentee voting. Hence, the size of absentee voters will depend on application.

b. The right to absentee voting should encompass all civilian voters who are at least 250 km away from their constituencies on polling day. It is unfair if, for instance, Sarawakians are expected to travel from Miri back to Kuching to vote.

c. Military and police voters should be allowed to register for their home constituencies rather than where they serve, as in the case of overseas voters. Forcing the service voters to vote in constituencies where they serve but have no permanent interests is unfair to both themselves and the locals. For instance, in the last Sarawak state elections, more than 18,000 or 2% strong of the electorate were postal voters. Majority of them were non-Sarawakian soldiers and police, who could be king-makers in marginal constituencies.

d. Postal voting must be abolished for all except overseas voters beyond the reach of our foreign missions. This is to terminate the flawed practice of allowing postal voters to bring home their ballots and return them some time later.

e. Distance voting centres must therefore be set up in all our foreign missions, major towns in every West Malaysian state, every division in Sarawak and every residency in Sabah.

f. We support the proposals of allowing military and police voters to vote in advance but the polling centres for them must be out of their barracks and police stations, and the voting process must be under full scrutiny of party agents.

g. To make absentee voting possible, the campaign period should be extended to a minimum of 21 days or more to ensure adequate time for voters to apply for absentee voting and subsequent logistic preparation.

We note that the PSC has also taken on board other recommendations made by Bersih 2.0 in our submission to the PSC on 12 November 2011 and in the past. These include:

1. Election Commission to be made independent and empowered to enforce election laws

2. Forming a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe into allegations of citizenships being given out in exchange for votes at Sabah

3. Rearranging of desks in polling centres to enable better scrutiny

However, the PSC interim report has yet to respond to five other immediate demands of Bersih 2.0 which are:

1. Setting a minimum campaign period of 21 days

2. Free and Fair Access of Media:

a. Free airtime on state media

b. Televised debate between candidates for Prime Minister and key party leaders

c. Provision for right of reply

3. Strengthening Public Institutions

a. Regulate the conduct of the governments in general or by-elections to ensure impartiality and neutrality, including establishing a Code of Conduct

b. Adopt the practice of an impartial caretaker government

4. Stop Corruption

a. The EC should use its enforcement unit to actively deter corrupt practices and lodge police reports when allegations emerge

b. Vigilant monitoring mechanism for pre- and during elections should be established to detect and prevent corruption including a reporting system to allow for public to report evidences of vote buying

5. Stopping Dirty Politics

a. A Code of Conduct should be established to regulate behaviour of parties and candidates such as the Model Code of Conduct for the Guidance of Political Parties and Candidates used by the Election Commission of India.



We note that there has been no recommendation made to the issues plaguing the process of constituency re-delineation despite strong representations made by Bersih 2.0 and other citizens. Reforming the current manner of the drawing of boundaries is equally of grave importance in ensuring that each vote is accorded its due value.

Bersih 2.0 is also gravely concerned that the recommendation to remove serial number on ballot papers may create possibility of ballot stuffing. It would be wiser to give ballot papers to voter at random instead of following the serial numbers. This can be done by tearing a few ballot papers at once and letting the voter pick his or her own ballot paper. We call for this recommendation to be withdrawn.

Bersih 2.0 emphasises that the EC and any other relevant government agencies must implement the Bersih 2.0 8 demands and the recommendations made by the PSC without further delay while the PSC prepares its final report. The aspiration to improve democratic processes and to guarantee the basic right to free and fair elections of every Malaysian must be present in the national electoral management body and any other enforcement agencies with a role to play in the electoral process. We hope to hear of no more excuses from the EC, but more action taken towards improving the electoral system.

Bersih 2.0 also calls on the EC and other stakeholders to publish a monthly progress report on the implementation of the PSC recommendations and recommendations made by Bersih 2.0 and other groups.

Finally, Bersih 2.0 reminds the PSC, the EC and the Government that the 8 demands of Bersih 2.0 is the bare minimum to ensure that the 13th General Elections will be reasonably clean and fair. The public will not tolerate any attempts to use the PSC to divert pressure on electoral reform.

Salam Bersih 2.0!


Issued by the steering committee of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) comprising:

Ambiga Sreenevasan (Chairperson), Andrew Khoo, Arul Prakkash, Arumugam K., Farouk Musa, Liau Kok Fah, Maria Chin Abdullah, Richard Y W Yeoh, Subramaniam Pillay, Toh Kin Woon, Wong Chin Huat, Yeo Yang Poh and Zaid Kamaruddin.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/183015