Bersih 2.0

Press Statement: 22 January 2012

END ACTS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY

BERSIH 2.0 is gravely concern with the gangster-like violent actions taken by a group of youngsters (aged between 14-20 Years old) who rudely broke up a ceramah at Shah Alam.

A ceramah co-organised by the Anything But UMNO (ABU) movement and Hindraf at Jalan Kebun in Shah Alam last night was rudely broken up when the chairperson began the programme. Speakers invited included Mohamad Sabu, Vice President of PAS, Haris Ibrahim, lawyer and activist, PKR leader Badrul Hisham Shahrin and Hindraf national coordinator W Sambulingam. A group of about 30 youth entered the hall of the ceramah, including a youth on a motorcycle, hurling water bottles and the organisers’ materials, and shouting abusive language at the participants and organizers. They demanded that the meeting be stopped immediately. One of the participants, Khrisnan, aged 33 years old, was beaten up by 15 youths and has been hospitalized at Sentosa Medical Centre.

No arrests were made by the police even though the offenders were still hovering outside the hall and shouting abusively, when the police arrived.

This is a stark reminder of the dirty and violent tactics used at an Asia Pacific Coalition for East Timor II (Apcet II) conference held at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur in November 1996 when a group of thugs stormed the meeting venue and damaged property belonging to the hotel. Such gangsterism must be stopped.  It is the duty and responsibility of the police to protect citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble and speak. As reported in Free Malaysia Today, 21 January 2012, Selangor police chief Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah and Shah Alam OCPD Zahedi Ayob have both brushed off claims of injury and made light of the serious situation. Their comments and failure to take any action are an embarrassment to the Royal Malaysian Police when there is clear video evidence showing the storming of the event and the injury to one of the participants. The police denial of the seriousness of the attack and the violence committed against the organizers and participants is tantamount to condoning the violence that occurred. Their failure to respond in a prompt and pro-active manner is an invitation for others to commit similar acts of violence with impunity.

BERSIH 2.0 demands that the IGP conducts an investigation immediately on last night’s acts of violence and arrest the offenders who have committed such crimes. We also call upon the government to put a stop to such acts of violence, which runs contrary to Article 10 of the Federal Constitution that allows for freedom of speech, assembly and association.

Lastly, BERSIH 2.0 wishes all Malaysians a Happy, Clean and Free Chinese New Year in the Year of Dragon which begins tomorrow.

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.

Press Statement: 17 January 2011

BERSIH 2.0 Launches JOM 100 for 100% Voter Turnout at GE-13

In the 2008 general election, 8.16 million voters exercised their right to vote for their representatives to Parliament. This figure was about 76% out of the total number of registered voters in 2008 of 10.7 million. However, nearly 5 million Malaysians eligible to vote were unable to do so as they had not registered. Based on these figures, approximately 7 million eligible voters did not vote during the previous general election!

BERSIH 2.0 would like to announce our latest campaign – JOM 100, a campaign targeting for 100% voter turnout in the upcoming 13^th General Election (GE-13).

Based on the reasons above, BERSIH 2.0’s JOM 100 campaign is to actively call on all citizens of Malaysia to take their voice to the ballot box. For this campaign, we will be having nationwide programmes to bring this message to all citizens of Malaysia. The programmes will begin after Chinese New Year.

BERSIH 2.0 is also concerned with the lack of commitment on the part of the EC to enfranchise Malaysians living abroad and Malaysians who live a considerable distance away from their constituencies such as Sabahans and Sarawakians living in peninsular Malaysia and vice versa. These groups of voters have long been deprived of their right to vote as absent voters as defined under the Federal Constitution. The EC must immediately institute the necessary changes to enfranchise these groups of absent voters to ensure they will be able to vote in the GE-13.

BERSIH 2.0 calls on all concerned citizens to support the JOM 100 campaign by taking the opportunity of the Chinese New Year festivities to encourage friends and family to vote in GE-13 or to register to vote immediately. The future of this country is the responsibility of every citizen and we must rise to the occasion when our democratic rights are being taken from us.

Announcement of new Steering Committee members

BERSIH 2.0 would also like to take this opportunity to announce and welcome two new members of the BERSIH 2.0 Steering Committee who are Datuk A. Samad Said and Ahmad Shukri Abdul Razab.

Datuk A. Samad Said or more popularly known as Pak Samad is no stranger to the BERSIH 2.0 movement. Pak Samad is a National Laureate who has been actively championing various causes including the right to mother-tongue language and more recently, democratic rights. In the lead up to the BERSIH 2.0 rally, Pak Samad became a key figure in speaking up to defend the democratic rights of all Malaysians. Due to this, Pak Samad has been invited to join the Steering Committee as Co-Chairperson together with current Chairperson Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Ahmad Shukri Abdul Razab is a student activist and President of Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM). Ahmad Shukri has been vocal in empowering students to reclaim their rights to academic freedom and speaking out against injustices. The NGO endorsees of BERSIH 2.0 nominated Ahmad Shukri to provide a space for increasing participation of youths in campaigning for electoral reform and democratic rights.

As Malaysia moves closer towards GE-13, the BERSIH 2.0 Steering Committee and NGO endorsees express our on-going commitment towards securing reforms of the electoral system.

Salam BERSIH 2.0!

Jom mengundi!

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.

Note: Please download the full statement in PDF format to have a proper view of the table below

File link: 160112 PS comparison between Bersih2-PSC-EC FINAL

Press Statement: 16 January 2012

BERSIH 2.0: Review of the PSC’s recommendations and EC’s responses

 The Parliamentary Select Committee for Electoral Reform (PSC) ended its final public hearing last week on 12 January 2012. BERSIH 2.0 has compiled a table of comparison between BERSIH 2.0’s recommendations for key areas of electoral reform, the PSC’s recommendations in its interim report and the areas which the EC has committed to implement (see attached).

Out of the 41 recommendations made by BERSIH 2.0 on our 8 demands, election observation and constituency redelineation; the PSC in its interim report has fully adopted only four of our recommendations which are:

1. Thorough and independent audit of the electoral roll
2. Allow eligible voters living overseas to vote as absent voters
3. Adopt advance voting for service voters
4. Use of indelible ink

The PSC has partially adopted another four of BERSIH 2.0’s recommendations which are:

1. Display of supplementary electoral roll to be extended from 7 days to 14 days, instead of the BERSIH 2.0 recommendation of 30 days.
2. Removal of RM10 objection fee and limit on number of objections allowed per person. However, PSC did not pick up BERSIH 2.0’s further recommendation for any voter, regardless of constituency, to make objection and extension of 7-day notice to 14 days for objected person to attend public inquiry. Most alarmingly, the PSC completely ignored BERSIH 2.0’s demand for transparent revision of principal or supplementary electoral rolls after certification, on which the EC holds unchecked power.
3. Establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate allegations of non-citizens obtaining citizenship and participating as voters at Sabah. BERSIH 2.0 recommended for the establishment of an RCI to investigate all allegations of giving citizenships to non-citizens in exchange for votes.
4. Extend absentee voting to East Malaysians living at West Malaysia and West Malaysians living at East Malaysia. BERSIH 2.0 recommended for postal voting to be extended to all eligible Malaysians expected to be out of their constituency and at least 250km away from closest absentee voting centre.

Disappointingly, the EC has publicly committed to three reforms, which correspond to only three of BERSIH 2.0’s recommendations, which were also recommended by the PSC. These are:

1. Use indelible ink in the 13^th General Elections (GE-13)
2. Implement advance voting for service voters
3. Audit of electoral roll by engaging MIMOS Berhad

Other recommendations made by the PSC that are of deep concern to BERSIH 2.0 are the removal of objection period of nomination of candidates and removal of serial numbers on ballot papers. If implemented, the removal of serial numbers on ballot papers will open possibilities of ballot stuffing. To ensure secrecy of the ballot, BERSIH 2.0 recommends to maintain the serial numbers but also to distribute the ballot papers to voters at random. With regards to removal of objection period, BERSIH 2.0 disagrees with giving EC full discretion over eligibility of candidates. Voters should be allowed to express any objections they may have to any nominated candidate.

Overall, BERSIH 2.0 is of the view that the PSC interim report should have included all substantial recommendations to ensure that key reforms are implemented by the EC immediately. We are disappointed that the PSC made only a few recommendations despite having heard substantial recommendations from BERSIH 2.0 and other groups and individuals.

The EC’s apparent lack of commitment and pro-activeness in implementing not only BERSIH 2.0’s recommendations but also the PSC’s recommendations indicates a serious lack of political will in facilitating deeply needed reforms in the electoral system. As the constitutional institution that is entrusted to manage electoral processes and uphold the rights of voters, the EC appears to be unwilling to fulfil its constitutional duties. BERSIH 2.0 reminds the EC that it is not answerable to any political master but to ALL citizens of Malaysia. The EC has therefore abandoned its constitutional role and responsibility to ensure electoral reform and good governance be practised and implemented before any elections can take place.

Electoral injustice in Malaysia has continued for far too long. Malaysians are increasingly aware of the flaws and injustice in the electoral system and taking a proactive roll to monitor the performance of the EC. If the EC intends to gain the confidence of the people of Malaysia, it must stop making excuses and immediately start taking steps to reform the electoral system to ensure free and fair elections in Malaysia.

The EC and the Najib Administration must recognise a clear fact: Malaysians will not accept anything less than a thorough and sincere reform of the electoral process. The 50,000 brave Malaysians who marched through the streets of Kuala Lumpur on 9 July 2011 in defiance of police violence and arrests have made their stand. Any false attempt of reform – like the Peaceful Assembly Bill – will invite not praises, but only backlash.

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.

Comparison between BERSIH 2.0’s recommendations on key electoral reforms, the PSC’s recommendations in its interim report and the EC’s responses

Automatic voter registration  Automatic removal of deceased voters and former citizens via updates from NRD database  Automatic removal of multiple registrations of service voters including simultaneous display of military/police IC and civilian IC in electoral roll  Listing of newly naturalised citizens on electoral roll  Implementing online voter  registration and online tracking system to monitor progress of application (interim measure before implementing automatic voter registration)  Monthly revision of supplementary electoral roll  Display of supplementary electoral roll online and on location for minimum 30 days (currently displayed for only 7 days). All names not objected to should immediately proceed for certification.Extend display of supplementary roll to 14 days. Removal of unnecessary restrictions to objections

1. Objection fee of RM10 should be refundable if objection is allowed, remove limit to no. of objections
2. Allow any voter regardless of constituency to make objection
3. Extend 7-day notice to 14 days for person to whom objection is being made to attend public inquiry.

PSC recommended:

1. Removal of objection fee of RM10 and limit of number of objections.
2. Amend regulations to allow objections on principle electoral roll.

 Transparent revision of principal or supplementary electoral rolls after certification including restriction of power of Chief Registrar of Electors to modify electoral rolls and amending the EOA to make illegal alteration of electoral rolls by EC officials an offence.  Set up independent electoral roll auditing committeeEC to appoint MIMOS Berhad to conduct audit of electoral roll to verify the following issues and to report the findings to the EC:

1. Two voters with same IC
2. Deceased voters in electoral roll
3. Voters above the age of 90
4. Non-citizen voters
5. Multiple registration of voters under a single address
6. Voters who lost eligibility to vote

However, no long term mechanism is proposed.EC will meet with MIMOS Berhad to discuss verification of authenticity of votersElectoral rolls should be made available to political parties, civil society groups and research institutions at marginal cost   EC to conduct verification of the Sabah electoral roll. Form a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate claims of giving citizenship to foreigners in exchange of votesIn the longer term, form a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations of non-citizens obtaining citizenship and participating as voters at Sabah. Absentee votingEligibility: All Malaysian registered voters expected to be overseas on polling day.Make necessary amendments to existing regulations to include eligible voters living overseas in the category of absent voters. Eligibility: All Malaysians expected to be out of their constituency and at least 250km away from closest absentee voting centre.Make necessary amendments to existing regulations to allow East Malaysians living at Peninsula Malaysia and West Malaysians living in East Malaysia to vote via absentee voting. Process: Absent voters must apply for absentee ballots two weeks before polling day.  Process: Advance voting (1 day before polling day) for service voters and overseas voters (except in Singapore and Brunei).Advance voting to be used for military voters and their spouses, and police voters.

Advance voting to include Election Officers, doctors, nurses and journalists on duty on polling day.Advance voting to be implemented for military personnel and their spouses, general operation force personnel and their spouses, and police officers.Process: Distance voting for service voters, domestic absent voters and overseas voters in Singapore and Brunei.  Process: Postal voting for other overseas voters.Any military or police voters (excluding spouses) unable to attend advance voting due to posting at rural areas should apply for postal voting.Postal voting to be available for service voters who are unable to attend advance voting.Indelible inkImplement indelible ink and make necessary amendments to relevant regulations to facilitate the implementation.Implement indelible ink for GE-13. EC should speed up process of amending necessary regulations to facilitate implementation.Will be implemented in the next GE.Meaningful campaign periodEC to stipulate campaign period of not less than 21 days.  Amend EA to institutionalise minimum campaign period of 21 days.  Free and fair access to mediaAmend EA to compel state-owned media to provide reasonably equal free airtime to contesting parties and candidates.  Televised prime ministerial public debates shall be televised.  Amend EOA to ensure fair access to private media for all contesting parties and candidates including paid advertisements, news and fair reporting. Any media outlets that practise discrimination in access to advertising should be prosecuted.  Amend EOA to make and offence any deliberate denial of any contesting party or candidate to the right to reply to any accusations made against then or him/her.  Establish code of conduct for media on election coverage.  Amend Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 to remove restrictions of content regulation and to prevent media ownership monopolies.  Abolish Sedition Act 1948, Official Secrets Act 1972 and Internal Security Act 1960.  Strengthening public institutionsMembership of the EC should be expanded to include more than just senior civil servants including representatives of other segments of society.  EC should use its powers under Article 113(5) of the Federal Constitutions to make rules to prohibit use of public institutions or government machinery by the government of the day in their political and election campaigns.  Adopt a practice of a caretaker government where the party in government relinquishes decision-making powers to a caretaker administration for the duration of the election campaign.  Implement a cooling-off period whereby senior civil servants shall not be permitted to join political parties within a specified period upon resignation or retirement.   Explain to the public that EC is independent and not influenced by any parties.  Provide adequate powers to EC to enforce election laws and increase human resource and financial capacity of the EC to reduce dependence on other agencies. Ending corruptionEmpower EC to penalise, if not disqualify, those who engage in vote buying.  Establish vigilant monitoring mechanisms before and during elections on vote buying and set up a reporting system to allow public with evidences to report vote buying.  Disallow announcement of development projects close to and/or during elections unless for emergency and disaster purposes.  Ending dirty politicsEC to enforce both existing and further enhanced rules against dirty politics during an election campaign. A handbook of the rules should be published and disseminated.  Election observationEC to make immediate arrangements to invite international election observers and to institutionalise this practice as a norm.  Constituency redelineationEC must abide the requirement of ‘approximately equal’ apportion stipulated by the Federal Constitution and abandon its malapportionment guide.  Amend S.2, Part I of the 13^th Schedule of the Federal Constitution to add  a new principle that “a state constituency must not be larger than half of the smallest parliamentary constituency in the same state” to check on the malapportionment trend.  Amend S.2, Part I of the Thirteenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution to add three new principles thata. constituencies should not cross the boundaries of local authorities

b. no arbitrary combination of local communities is allowed

c. no arbitrary partitioning of local authorities is allowed.  Amend S.10, Part 2 of the Thirteenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution the effect that the redelineation proposal needs to be approved with two-third majority.

Press Statement: 6 January 2012

BERSIH 2.0: Judge Failed to Uphold Constitutional Rights of Overseas Malaysians

BERSIH 2.0 is deeply disappointed with the decision given by Judge Rohana Yusuf on the application by six overseas Malaysians to register as absent voters.

The judge failed to uphold the constitutional rights of the applicants. With this one decision, the judge has effectively disenfranchised not just the six applicants, but up to approximately 700,000 overseas Malaysians.

Article 119 of the Federal Constitution clearly defines an absent voter as any qualified and registered voter who is not a resident in his or her constituency. It is the duty of the Election Commission (EC) to uphold the democratic rights of all citizen of Malaysia. However, the EC has failed to uphold the right to vote of overseas Malaysians.

BERSIH 2.0 has maintained that reform of absentee voting is of utmost importance in ensuring enfranchisement of all voters. We reiterate our call to the EC to immediately make the necessary arrangements including amendments to the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations 2002 to enfranchise all overseas Malaysians.

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, 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.

Press Statement: 1 January 2012

BERSIH 2.0 New Year’s Message: Clean up the Nation with our Votes

The Year 2011 has been a deeply frustrating one if one examines the performance of the Malaysian State.

From the 50-cent-per-email 1Malaysia Email, the RM 1.8 million Cuti-cuti Malaysia Facebook applications, to the latest cow-in-condominium fiasco, Malaysia does not appear to be confronting its economic woes and corruption in the country.

The year 2011 also saw some of the most serious infringement of human rights and the rule of law:

• The death of Ahmad Sarbani at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) premises;
• the one-month long crack-down on BERSIH 2.0 resulting in the single-day arrest of 1667 persons;
• the unjust detention without trail of the PSM6;
• the fast, quick passing of the amendments to the Employment Act, despite strong protest from the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) and CSOs; and
• the Peaceful Assembly Bill which was bulldozed through the Parliament.

This list is not exhaustive. We also witness the impunity of violence and hatred granted to fascist groups and their propaganda machines, with the view to dividing the rakyat and to create inter-communal and inter-religious disharmony.

However, the Year 2011 will also go down in our history as one of the most glorious years for the empowerment and courage of the rakyat. Who can forget the 50,000 brave Malaysians who took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur on July 9 to demand clean elections, clean politics and clean government.

These brave Malaysians marched proudly, defying threats of violence and intimidation by the ruling administration, extremist groups and the partisan media, and ultimately water cannons, tear gas and police batons.

Amidst the crackdown by the police, the divided Malaysians were transformed into a united people. Many cried as they sang Negaraku, feeling the solidarity and love for the country. Generations to come shall remember the July 9 protesters with gratitude and fondness, especially the late Baharudin Ahmad who died for democracy,.

In their triumph over fear, the rakyat chartered a course for democracy for the nation that day.

The July 9 protest, both at home and abroad, resulted in the announcing by the government plans of political transformation and the setting of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reform. We welcome the Election Commission’s (EC) latest decision to implement indelible ink, unfortunately the only one out of BERSIH 2.0’s eight demands that is fully accepted. Indelible ink will prevent multiple voting and recycling of phantoms.

However, phantoms, clones, illegally enfranchised foreigners and other fraudulent registrations can only be eliminated with a thorough clean-up of the electoral rolls, before any elections can take place.

We are therefore deeply disappointed with the EC and the PSC for the few reforms announced on the cleaning up of the electoral rolls and absentee voting, as well as their complete silence on five other BERSIH’s demands.

Elections cannot be clean, free and fair when 3.7 million eligible citizens are kept out of the electoral rolls due to slow registration process and rejection of automatic voter registration; when fraudulent names in certified electoral rolls cannot be challenged in court and cleaned up transparently; when overseas Malaysians are denied their constitutional right to vote; when other civilian absent voters are also denied distant voting facilities.

Malaysians have made history in 2011. We must now make it count. We must stress that nothing short of the fulfilment of all of BERSIH 2.0’s demands is acceptable.

Automatic voter registration, absentee voting available for all, 21 days of campaign period, televised debates, administrative neutrality of public institutions, prosecution on vote buying, elimination of dirty politics, must all be implemented before the next General Elections.

Finally, it is the right and responsibility of every eligible voter to register themselves as voters, and for every registered voter to exercise their right to vote.  Let this be your new year’s resolution for 2012.

Happy New Year!

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 (Chairperson), 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.

Press Statement: 21 December 2011

The EC Must Not Delay Implementation of All the 8 Demands

The Election Commission (EC) is finally making steps towards implementing electoral reform. However, the changes announced are not adequate to ensure a minimum level of standards for a clean and fair election for the next General Election.

Areas of concern:

1.    Indelible ink
a.    The EC states that the indelible ink has been identified and has been sent for testing to ensure that its contents are safe for Muslims. BERSIH 2.0 is of the view that the implementation of the use of indelible ink must not be delayed on the grounds of religion considering there is already a fatwa issued in 2007 permitting the use of indelible ink for Muslims.

2.    Postal voting and advance voting
a.    BERSIH 2.0 welcomes the move to implement advance voting for members of the military and General Operations Force (GOF) and their spouses, and the police force, and for the advance voting procedures to be monitored by party agents. However, we call on the EC to move polling centres to places outside of army camps and police bases to ensure transparency and a non-intimidating environment for the voters.
b.    We also call on the EC to disclose if the military, GOF and police advance and postal voters will be voting for their own constituency or the constituency in which their bases are located. BERSIH 2.0 had previously recommended that military, GOF and police voters to be allowed to vote for their home constituencies instead of where they serve. This is to avoid padding the electoral rolls of constituencies with such bases.
c.    The EC should clarify the criteria and procedures by which military, GOF, police and EC personnel can apply to be postal voters.
d.    There are other recommendations made by BERSIH 2.0 relating to postal voting that have yet to be implemented by the EC. The recommendations include allowing all eligible Malaysians living overseas to vote as well as all Malaysians being at least 250km away from their voting constituency on polling day to apply in advance to vote in distance voting centres. EC Chair Aziz Yusof has stated that the EC is still deciding the qualifications for overseas voters. It is not within the purview of the EC to decide the criteria of qualification for overseas voters as the Federal Constitution defines absent voter as any citizen who is registered in the electoral as an absent voter and lives outside of his or her constituency. The EC must immediately allow Malaysians overseas to register as absent voters.

3.    Cleaning up of the electoral roll
a.    BERSIH 2.0 is disappointed that the EC has again avoided the call for a clean and inclusive electoral rolls with just a decision to cooperate with the Malaysian Institute Of Microelectronic Systems (MIMOS) and a longer period for the display and inspections of uncertified electoral rolls.
b.    The EC has completely ignored our call for automatic voter registration, without which at least 3 million eligible voters will still be denied voting right even if elections are held 12 months from now. The EC registered only 800,000 voters last year and the processing of many applications is not complete even after half a year.
c.    The EC has completely ignored our call for monthly (instead of quarterly) display and inspection of electoral rolls and immediate approval of all names uncontested.
d.    The EC has completely ignored our call to abolish the RM 10 charge per every name contested in electoral roll and the limit of 100 names per complainant, and replace with a RM 10 fine for every name unreasonably challenged and rejected.
e.    The EC has completely ignored our call to allow for challenges of the certified electoral rolls by members of the public. This would allow for an on-going cleaning up and remove the power of the EC officials to add, delete or modify names without public scrutiny.

4.    Nomination day procedures
a.        BERSIH 2.0 welcomes the change to remove withdrawal of candidates upon nomination.
b.        However, BERSIH 2.0 opposes the removal of the objection period for nominees and giving full discretionary powers to election officers to decide if a candidate is qualified. We call on the EC to withdraw this move as the objection period is necessary for voters to scrutinise candidates in a transparent way and to act as a check and balance in the nomination procedure.
c.        The issue of ensuring sufficient time for printing of ballot papers can be solved by implementing a minimum 21-day campaign period, which is one of BERSIH 2.0’s 8 demands. A longer campaign period also allows sufficient time for facilitation of postal/distance votes.

5.    Other BERSIH 2.0 demands
The other demands set forth by BERSIH 2.0 have yet to be implemented by the EC which are:
a.    Setting a minimum campaign period of 21 days
b.    Free and fair access to media
c.    Strengthening public institutions
d.    Stopping corruption
e.    Stopping dirty politics

January 2012 marks the sixth month since 9 July when 50,000 Malaysians took to the streets to demand for electoral reform. During this period, the EC has only committed to fully implementing one of BERSIH 2.0’s 8 demands, namely indelible ink. The demand to reform postal voting has only partially been implemented while the other six demands remain unaddressed.

BERSIH 2.0 calls on the EC to speed up the implementation of all the 8 demands we have set forth before the next General Election. We emphasise again that these 8 demands are crucial in ensuring the bare minimum for a clean and fair elections.

On a final note, BERSIH 2.0 is disappointed that the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 was passed in the Senate yesterday despite the contents which amount to violation of the fundamental right to freedom of assembly. Clean, free and fair elections are fantasy when civil liberties are curbed.

We call on any move towards obtaining assent from the Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Mulia and gazetting of the Bill to be halted. The Bill should be withdrawn immediately.

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 (Chairperson), 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.

Press Statement: 1 December 2011

Five out of BERSIH 2.0’s 8 Demands not covered by PSC’s interim report

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:

1. Automatic voter registration, without which 3.7 million eligible citizens will be disenfranchised.
2. 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).
3. 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.
4. Certified principal and supplementary rolls must be open for challenge in court and subject to a transparent process of objection and claim.
5. 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)
6. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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 redelineation 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 13^th 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!

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

The Steering Committee of BERSIH 2.0 comprises:

Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan (Chairperson), 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.

Click to download full statement & appendices: 251111 PS Overseas voters STATEMENT + APPENDICES

Press Statement: 25 November 2011

BERSIH 2.0: Reform Postal Ballot Now and Uphold Rights of Overseas Voters

 On 26 November, various groups of Malaysians living overseas will be organising events to demand for their right to absentee voting. In solidarity with these groups, BERSIH 2.0 would like to highlight BERSIH 2.0 Demand #2: Reform Postal Voting which is one of our 8 demands.

BERSIH 2.0 would like to reiterate that it is critical for the current postal voting system to be reformed to ensure ALL absent voters are able to access their right to vote and to reduce any gaps that may lead to manipulation and abuse.

A.       Weaknesses:

 1.      Current postal voting system is susceptible to fraudulent practices

The lack of transparency in the postal voting process allows for potential manipulation, intimidation or corruption.

Postal voting typically takes place in the army camps or police stations and it is difficult for independent ejen undi pos to observe the balloting. The lack of independent or party observers leave room for fraud to occur as has been testified by former army officers.

In August, three former army officers admitted to manipulating postal ballot under orders from superiors. They marked hundreds of ballot papers on behalf of other army officers and their spouses[1]. In another exposé, MP Anthony Loke[2] discovered an army spouse who was registered in the electoral roll under her husband’s civilian IC[3]. These cases are merely the tip of the iceberg and an indication that the postal electoral roll needs a thorough audit.

Another issue leading to fraud is the separation of postal voter roll from ordinary voters roll. Any postal voter registered under the army IC could also register as an ordinary voter using his or her civilian IC[4].

2.      Poorly designed procedures for control of postal voting

Postal voting is a complicated and tedious process. The forms used to control the issuing, returning, opening and rejection of envelops and ballots are poorly designed as they require only the date and signature of an Election Commission (EC) officer.  Any ejen undi pos present is not allowed to sign on these forms or to have a copy to ensure check and balance. As such, any manipulation of the figures can occur easily.

3.      Discrimination and marginalisation of absent voters

One of the major defects of the postal voting system is the disenfranchisement of other absentee voters such as those living overseas and those living in Malaysia but unable to return their constituency to cast their votes. Recently, six Malaysians living overseas have taken the EC to court to fight for their right to absentee voting.

In addition, the short period of 4 days for dispatch of postal ballots before polling day makes it practically impossible for almost all overseas voters to receive and return their ballots. In reality, overseas voters would be unable to return ballot papers in time for polling day if the campaign period is less than 28 days. Due to this, various other countries including the USA, England and Australia has employed the method of advance voting instead.

4.      Postal voting system is expensive and inefficient

Based on the attached chart outlining the process of postal voting[5], it is clear that postal voting is a very tedious process. Some of the issues with the process include the compromise of the secrecy of the ballot.

B.        BERSIH 2.0 Proposal for Immediate Reform of Absentee Voting

Please refer to Appendix 4 for BERSIH 2.0 full proposal for reform of absentee voting submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee for Electoral Reform (PSC) on 12 November 2011.

1.      Utilise various methods of Absentee Voting

a.        Postal voting – only available for overseas voters except in Singapore and Brunei
b.        Advance voting – available for service voters and overseas voters except in Singapore and Brunei[6]
c.         Distance voting– available for service voters, domestic absent voters and overseas voters in Singapore and Brunei

In July, the EC Deputy Chair Wan Ahmad Wan Omar announced that the EC has previously tested out advance voting and will be using this method in the next GE[7]. Based on this, the EC can easily extend advance voting to overseas voters as well.

2.      Improve safeguards of absentee voting

Election candidates their agents and election observers should be allowed to monitor the entire process of absentee voting. Procedures should be designed to ensure check and balance and safeguards against abuse.

BERSIH 2.0 is of the view that there is no reason why these proposals cannot be implemented before the next General Elections. The EC would be failing its constitutional duties if it fails to do everything within its powers to ensure access to the right to vote for all eligible voters.

Once again, BERSIH 2.0 calls on the EC and Government to “Tunaikan 8 Tuntutan, Barulah PRU-13” (Implement the 8 Demands before GE-13).

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 (Chairperson), 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.