Bersih to petition Agong for brand-new ECLawrence Yong | 2:58PM Nov 30, 2013 Fresh after the coalitions elections today, Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) new steering committee will now start pressuring the Agong for a new Election Commission (EC) to replace the existing members. Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah (left), who took over from Ambiga Sreenevasan, said for its next phase, the coalition of 90 NGOs will go nationwide with six new regional representatives to be elected. But first, it has three requests for the Agong, who has the power to appoint EC members. We demand that all Election Commission members resign immediately, and that the delineation process be stopped until a new EC is elected... And the electoral roll must be reviewed with the participation of civil society, read out Maria from a letter drafted to the Agong, at a press conference in Petaling Jaya. The letter will be sent in about a months time after gathering signatures from as many NGOS as possible. Agong must consider trustworthiness Maria said that the present EC has lost the trust of the public, citing the criticisms of the Pemantau Election Observation Report and Malaysia Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap) and the commissions failure to employ proper indelible ink in the 13th general elections. The EC has proven to be biassed, not free and does not act fairly, based on its recent statements which are partisan, and their failure to uphold the laws during elections and even after the 13th GE, she said. She said Bersih was appealing to the agong based on federal constitution article 114 (2) that states that the agong has to seriously weigh whether the EC member has the publics trust before appointing the individual. When asked who should be in the new EC, Maria reiterated the movements demand that EC members can be from civil society and not part of any other commissions. They can be ex-judges, lawyers, and Bersih committee members should also be considered. The electoral reform movement is best known for organising three major rallies in the streets of Kuala Lumpur since 2007, demanding for free and fair elections. If our demands are actually ignored, then Bersih 4.0 cannot be ruled out, Maria said, but added that besides the petition, Bersih was also waiting for the report from thepeoples tribunal on GE13 before considering more drastic actions. Coalition elections a first Since 2011, the movement has been steered by a committee led by former Bar Council president Ambiga and national laureate A Samad Said (Pak Samad). Although election of committee members is not required by law as Bersih as an organisation is not registered under the Registrar of Societies, it openly held its first ever electiontoday at the Petaling Jaya Community Library, in front of about 50 members of the public, including media. A total of 67 votes were cast, including four votes from overseas. These were from Sabah and Sarawak NGOs who participated through postal and e-voting. The five new steering committee members of Bersih are Maria (chairperson), Ahmad Farouk Musa (vice chairperson), Masjaliza Hamzah (treasurer), New Sin Yew and Farhana Halim. Maria said that another six members, to be regional leaders of Bersih, will join the team, bringing its committee to 11 members. Previously a 20-member team ran Bersih. When asked what roles Ambiga and Pak Samad may take in the future, Maria said she was open to their help in any way. I am sure the whole old committee will still join us in the fight... they are just as committed as us in electoral reforms, Maria said.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Nov 2013 20:08:29 +0000
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