PETALING JAYA: The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) said it had organised a briefing for foreign diplomats on the ongoing electoral redelineation process in Sarawak as there was little information about it from the Election Commission (EC).

The polls reform group said the sparse information from the EC and disjointed reports on the matter had prompted requests by some diplomats for a briefing on the matter by the group.

Eventually, the Bersih 2.0 steering committee said in a statement yesterday it decided to hold a briefing for the diplomatic community.

On Tuesday, former EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar slammed Bersih 2.0 over the briefing, calling it an inappropriate move, as elections were “internal” matters involving Malaysian laws.

He asked Bersih why it was “selling” the elections to foreign parties when the issue had nothing to do with them.

“Delineation is a process that is meant to facilitate the very public matter of election of governments, hence it must be correspondingly transparent to all who have dealings with government. This essentially includes other governments of the world via their diplomatic representatives.

“As a crucial part of the democratic process, delineation is also a necessarily public matter to ensure it is done fairly,” the NGO said in its statement.

The EC’s stance also explained why it had given the people so little public information on the process, despite its importance as a predetermining factor of election outcomes, Bersih 2.0 said.

It also hit back at Wan Ahmad for telling Bersih 2.0 to let EC do its job.

“This is precisely Bersih 2.0’s concern. The EC has certainly not been doing their job in accordance with the stipulations of the Federal Constitution to ensure a fair delineation,” it said.

Bersih 2.0 said in participatory democracies, civil society plays an important role in all public spheres, and the group was doing its part by educating the voters on the redelineation exercise and how they could participate in the process.

“Wan Ahmad should not fault Bersih 2.0 for wanting to inform, not only fellow citizens, but also the world when the EC does not see itself as an institution of democracy that serves the public,” the group said. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 22, 2015.