500,000 were at Bersih 4, says organiser

31 August 2015 5.48 p.m.

The organiser of Bersih 4 sees the event as a huge success and that approximately 500,000 people had taken part in the rally.

"The total number of people who participated in Bersih 4, for the entire 34 hours, is estimated at 500,000," Bersih secretariat head Maria Chin Abdullah said at a press conference today.

Maria said Bersih, a coalition of NGOs pushing for electoral reforms, would consider hosting Bersih 5 if the demands made during the weekend's rally are not met.

"We will consider it. (But for now) we would like to reiterate our demands until they are fulfilled.

"We don't just want the prime minister to step down, but also to reform our institutions," she said.

The 34-hour rally on Saturday and Sunday saw tens of thousands of participants gathering, mainly along Jalan Tun Perak and aroundf Dataran Merdeka.

However, police estimates suggest that only 25,000 people took part on the first day.

Dr M's agenda

Meanwhile, Maria said she and the Bersih secretariat members were prepared for possible arrests, adding that their legal team was on standby.

On Dr Mahathir Mohamad's brief appearances at the rally, Maria's deputy Sarajun Hoda said the former prime minister had his own agenda.

"Firstly, he wants to see Najib step down. Secondly, he wants BN to be in power," said Sarajun.

Mahathir first visited the protest grounds on Saturday evening, stating that he was witnessing "people's power" and that the protesters should carry on.

Yesterday, Mahathir made another appearance, but made it clear that he was not supportive of Bersih's cause, which includes extensive institutional reforms to prevent abuse of power.

However, Mahathir said that street demonstrations were justifiable as a last resort, citing how Filipinos had to take to the streets to depose dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/310565

Maria Chin is Bersih 2.0’s new head

BY JENNIFER GOMEZ
NOVEMBER 12, 2013

Activist Maria Chin Abdullah (pic, left) is the new chair of Bersih 2.0,  after she was the only person nominated for the top position in the electoral watchdog's elections.

Bersih 2.0 or the Coalition of Free and Fair Elections will hold its first ever elections at the end of this month. Current co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, who will officially step down on November 30, was one of those who nominated Maria for the post.

The position of Bersih 2.0 vice-chair will see a contest between Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa and Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh while Masjaliza Hamzah and Nahar Md Nor will contest the treasurer’s post.

Five nominees are vying for the two committee member seats – K. Arumugan, Ng Chak Ngoon, Farhana Halim, Hishamuddin Rais and New Sin Yew.

The elections will be held at the PJ Library on November 30 and campaigning will come to a close on November 29.

The five-member steering committee team elected at the national level will serve a two-year term.

Bersih 2.0 Election Committee member Stanley Yong said at a press conference today that even though the new chair is already known the new steering committee will only be officially announced on November 30.

Another six committee members will be elected later on from the regional level to add to the five-member national level committee.

A total of 90 endorsing organisations of Bersih 2.0 will have one vote each at the November 30 polls. – November 12, 2013.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/maria-chin-is-bersih-2.0s-new-head

Megat Junid’s alleged order to let immigrants vote ‘shocking’, say Bersih leaders

By Ida Lim and Syed Jaymal Zahiid

January 17, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Leaders of polls watchdog Bersih 2.0 have expressed shock over accusations that a former minister had ordered the National Registration Department’s (NRD) Sabah branch to enable illegal immigrants to vote.

Yesterday, former Sabah NRD director Ramli Kamarudin told an inquiry panel that the late Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayub had instructed him to provide immigrants with NRD receipts, temporary documents that allowed them to vote in a 1994 state election.

Ambiga said the accusations amounted to electoral ‘fraud’. — File pic

Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, the Bersih 2.0 co-chair, described Ramli’s testimony during a hearing before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Sabah’s illegal immigrants as “shocking”, saying that this amounted to electoral “fraud”.

“The evidence is shocking in one sense but on the other hand, this is exactly what the people have been suspecting all along. What has happened and is happening in Sabah is reported to be happening in West Malaysia too! This is fraud and nothing less,” she told The Malaysian Insider when contacted yesterday.

She said that it suggested that there was a “conspiracy”, saying that there is “cause for grave concern”.

“It suggests a conspiracy at high levels. Of course it is not proper to comment fully yet until all the evidence is given and the other side of this sorry tale is told. For now I can say that what is surfacing is cause for grave concern.”

Maria Chin Abdullah, a Bersih 2.0 steering committee member, similarly expressed shock over what was testified during the RCI hearing yesterday.

“We are shocked but at the same time glad that these people are making such exposes as the EC (Election Commission) had denied that all this is happening.”

“This is why we need observers with all these exposes...,” she told The Malaysian Insideryesterday.

Bersih 2.0 along with MAFREL and Pusat Komas have been recruiting citizens through PEMANTAU to observe both the campaign and polling period of Election 2013, while Tindak Malaysia has been actively training polling agents as observers.

These civil society groups say that having such observers would help to prevent electoral fraud from happening in what is expected to be an intense battle for votes.

Maria was happy that people are making such exposes.

Yesterday, Ramli said that Megat Junid, the then deputy home affairs minister, had in 1994 told him to match the details of the NRD receipts issued to illegal immigrants to the names and identity card numbers of registered voters.

“We gave them (immigrants) RM20,” Ramli told the inquiry panel yesterday.

“We teach them how to vote. We gather them in a house. We send them by bus to the polling stations. Then we send them back and we collect the receipts. The receipts are just for voting. We did not give them identity cards,” he added.

Ramli said that about 200 NRD receipts were issued in five or six state constituencies each in Sabah that were considered “black spots that were difficult for the government to win.”

Ramli, who said he was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) from 1995 to 1997, also denied receiving bribes.

“This was a direct order from the deputy home affairs minister himself, even though I admit that it was illegal,” he said.

He added that the directive was given at a meeting with Megat Junid, Umno’s Datuk Seri Osu Sukam (who later became Sabah chief minister in 1999) and an NRD registration officer named Asli Sidup, at the Hyatt Hotel in Kota Kinabalu two weeks before the 1994 state election.

“The receipts were strictly for voting. After that, we would collect the receipts and destroy them,” said Ramli.

Asli testified later that 200 NRD receipts were used in the Kawang state constituency in the 1994 state election, which Osu won by a mere 64 votes.

The 1994 state election saw Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) winning just 25 out of 48 state assembly seats.

But several PBS assemblymen defected to Barisan Nasional (BN) shortly after, causing the collapse of the PBS government.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister who was in power from 1981 to 2003, has been accused of spearheading the so-called “Project IC”, in which citizenship was allegedly given to immigrants in exchange for their votes.

But former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh, who administered the state from 1976 to 1985, denied on Tuesday the existence of “Project IC”.

The inquiry before RCI chairman Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong resumes today.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/megat-junids-alleged-order-to-let-immigrants-vote-shocking-say-bersih-leaders/

Ambiga: Bersih’s ‘citizen observers’ will be non-partisan

By Clara Chooi
Assistant News Editor

December 20, 2012

Ambiga said Bersih’s ‘citizen observers’ will comply with global standards for domestic election monitoring.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — Bersih 2.0 has chided the Election Commission (EC) for labelling it “partisan”, insisting to the agency that its “citizen observers” will comply with global standards on election monitoring, which list non-partisanship as a requirement.

The movement’s co-chairman, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, said the use of citizen observers during polls is a practice that has been accepted and used in many countries abroad, including Indonesia.

“We understand what they are saying that we should be well-organised and not interfere with the polls process. Certainly, that is not our intention,” the renowned lawyer told The Malaysian Insider.

“We are providing training for our observers and we will comply with global standards for domestic election monitoring,” she said when contacted yesterday.

The standards referred to by Ambiga are enshrined in the “Declaration of Global Principles for Non-Partisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organisations and its Code of Conduct”.

The declaration was commemorated at the United Nations on April 3 this year by the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors, an international network that connects some 150 organisations worldwide. In Malaysia, Bersih 2.0, the Malaysian Voters Union and the National Institute for Democracy and Electoral Integrity (NIEI) signed on to the declaration.

Ambiga said the purpose behind calling for citizen observers was not to manipulate the results of the polls but to offer Malaysians an active role in protecting their own vote.

She pointed out that any member of the public could sign up as a citizen observer, irrespective of their political leaning.

“We made the call publicly... everyone can sign up for training,” she said.

Wan Ahmad raised the possibility that Bersih may have a certain agenda to protect its partisan interests.

Agreeing, Maria Chin Abdullah, a Bersih 2.0 steering committee member, said there was nothing partisan about urging Malaysians to come forward and participate in the polls process of their own country.

“We are merely asking citizens to take a stand on the fraud that has been happening. It’s their right, after all, to see that their votes are protected… we are not telling them who to vote,” she said.

Ambiga also said the very reason behind the initiative, also known as the “Jom Pantau” campaign, had stemmed from Bersih 2.0’s lack of confidence in the EC’s commitment to reforms.

“Rather than attacking us, they should actually be focusing on cleaning up their act for the elections.

“Why do they seem to be so nervous about our independent observers?” she asked.

“Frankly, I would really like to make this call to all members of the EC who have chosen to remain silent — we will hold each and every one of them responsible for how the coming elections are run.

“I urge the commissioners to search their conscience and ask themselves if this is an acceptable state of affairs for Malaysia and if they are fulfilling their constitutional duties to the people,” she said.

The EC questioned yesterday the ability of Ambiga to ensure all “citizen observers” in her Bersih 2.0 electoral watchdog group obey the law and steer clear of fouling up the polls regulator’s work.

EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar was reported by a Malay news portal as saying Bersih 2.0 was formed along partisan lines and that it was possible the group may have a certain agenda to protect its partisan interests.

He told Sinar Harian Online that while the prominent legal expert, who is co-chairman of the electoral reform group, is seen to be familiar with the law, he asked: “But is she capable of taking care of members involved in the Jom Pantau PRU13?”

Wan Ahmad said the EC acknowledged the right of citizens to monitor the election process for any possible fraud that may arise, but said they must not disturb the work of the authorities and EC.

“We want to give a reminder so that Bersih 2.0 that launched this campaign will not disturb this election’s affairs,” he told the news portal.

Bersih 2.0 has already launched its “Jom Pantau” and “Jom 100” but Ambiga said on Monday that these campaigns will be expanded next month to keep the pressure on the authorities.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/ambiga-bersihs-citizen-observers-will-be-non-partisan/