Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on May 24, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih 2.0 has called upon the prime minister to suspend Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah and his deputy Tan Sri Othman Mahmood within the first 100 days of government.

“Subsequently, a tribunal should be established to remove all seven current commissioners,” the coalition for clean and fair elections’ acting chairman Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari told reporters yesterday.

If the commissioners do not resign, it becomes more urgent that a Royal Commission of Inquiry is set up to investigate any possible misconduct, fraud or violation of election laws, said Shahrul Aman.

“The focus for the immediate 100 days must be on restoring the EC’s independence and integrity,” Bersih 2.0 added in a statement yesterday. “The present EC members have lost public confidence and failed in their duties to ensure a clean, free and fair election.”  

Shahrul Aman said Bersih 2.0 is currently compiling its report on the offences committed during the 14th general election and will release it soon.

“Our call [for a cleaner electoral process] has been consistent because we have been monitoring the elections very closely since the delineation [of constituencies] and the registration of voters, and we have seen many instances of rigging,” he said.

For example, malapportionment was a “very clear fact which showed division by racial boundaries” and was not merely based on sentiment or emotion, he said.

Shahrul Aman and Bersih 2.0 executive director Yap Swee Seng yesterday submited the group’s proposal for electoral and parliamentary reforms to the Institutional Reforms Committee set up by the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP).

“Today (yesterday) was the last day for us to submit these documents. We will meet with [the CEP] on May 30,” Shahrul Aman said. “We are encouraged by the fact that the new government is open and willing to listen to our proposal.”

Yap said Bersih 2.0 is hoping the government will consider electoral and parliamentary reforms as much as financial ones.

“We know the new government is currently very much focused on the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) scandal, which is understandable. But institutional reforms should not be neglected,” he said.

According to Bersih 2.0, the most important action to take immediately is to restore the EC’s independence, stressing no meaningful reforms can take place if the current members are not removed.

The proposal, which includes specified time frames for reforms, was submitted to Parliament last year but no action was taken on it, said Shahrul Aman.

Meanwhile, former attorney-general Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman, appointed by the CEP to lead a committee tasked with investigating 1MDB, said the committee met with the CEP yesterday.

“We have met with the task force to discuss our functions, so we can avoid overlapping,” he told reporters. He declined to comment further, stressing now is the time for “less talk, more work”.

Others who met with the CEP yesterday included SME Corp Malaysia chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Dr Hafsah Hashim, Malaysia External Trade Development Corp CEO Dr Mohd Shahreen Zainooreen Madros, Malayia Digital Economy Corp CEO Datuk Yasmin Mahmood and director of the national strategy unit in the finance ministry Datuk Dr Aminuddin Hassim.

Today, the CEP is scheduled to meet representatives from the International Chamber of Commerce Malaysia, the American Chamber of Commerce and the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd managing director and group CEO Datuk Shazally Ramly and Bank Rakyat president Datuk Zulkiflee Abbas Abdul Hamid also have scheduled briefings with the CEP today.

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