Najib, wake up!

He must know that his credibility in the international arena is nothing to shout about and take serious steps to address the issue of electoral reforms.

Nazri’s statement proves that all along the government is not concerned with electoral reforms. Its claim is that “everything is fine, if not, how could the opposition win five states in 2008?” This statement is meant to deceive the gullible among the rakyat because the opposition won in spite of the dubious electoral system due to the overwhelming support from the rakyat and not because the election process is clean.

Selena Tay, Free Malaysia Today

The July 9 Bersih rally came about mainly due to the fact that the voter rolls were dirty and are still dirty. Hence, the name Bersih, which means “clean” in English.

Due to the pressure exerted by the rakyat who came in droves to participate in the rally, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) will be formed to see to electoral reforms. The keywords here are “to see to”. This does not mean that electoral reforms will necessarily be implemented.

The nine MPs sitting on the PSC are made up of fve Barisan Nasional MPs: chairman Maximus Ongkili (PBS, Kota Marudu), Alexander Nanta Linggi (PBB, Kapit), Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad (Umno, Kangar), Fong Chan Onn (MCA, Alor Gajah) and P Kamalanathan (MIC, Hulu Selangor).

The three opposition MPs from Pakatan Rakyat are Azmin Ali (PKR, Gombak), Anthony Loke (DAP, Rasah) and Dr Hatta Ramli (PAS, Kuala Krai).

The Independent bloc is represented by Wee Choo Keong (Wangsa Maju).

Although the PSC seems to be a good move by the BN government, its sincerity and seriousness in implementing electoral reforms is doubted by its detractors who claim that the PSC is only “for show” and “an eyewash to hoodwink the public”.

Still, there are many who lauded the government’s move as sincere and commendable.

However, the PSC started on a wrong note when Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz stated that reforms can still be implemented after the 13th general election if Parliament is dissolved before the reforms are implemented.

It is pointless to have reforms after the 13th general election. This only goes to show that the government is not really serious about electoral reforms as what the sceptics have trumpeted all along.

Bersih 2.0 has thus issued a press statement on Oct 4 denouncing Nazri’s statement and urging the prime minister to give all Malaysians his word that the polls will not be held before the recommendations from the PSC are implemented.

Government is not concerned

Nazri’s statement proves that all along the government is not concerned with electoral reforms. Its claim is that “everything is fine, if not, how could the opposition win five states in 2008?” This statement is meant to deceive the gullible among the rakyat because the opposition won in spite of the dubious electoral system due to the overwhelming support from the rakyat and not because the election process is clean.

Had the election process been clean, the opposition would have already taken over the seat in Putrajaya!

On Oct 6, the government’s sincerity in electoral reforms was again in doubt when Ongkili made a statement that the views of Bersih 2.0 would not be taken into account!

This is shocking indeed as the PSC was set up due to pressure from Bersih 2.0. Therefore, to ignore Bersih 2.0 is like eating nasi lemak without the sambal!

Bersih 2.0 has indeed been cleaned out by the PSC, given that the statement came from none other than the PSC chairman himself.

This brings to light the poignant question: why is the PSC chairman making a unilateral decision without the consensus of the other eight PSC members as the first PSC meeting has yet to begin?

With the PSC starting on a wrong footing, it is highly doubtful that much can be achieved and it is likely that it will end up as a rubber-stamp committee to approve the current flawed electoral system. Thus, the PSC’s sceptics have been vindicated even before the first meeting has begun.

Foreign vote bank

The three opposition MPs must do their utmost to see to it that the PSC is not a toothless tiger. As it is, there have been many adverse reports pertaining to the malpractice or oversight committed by the Election Commission (EC).

Chief among these are the proven evidence that the names of foreign workers have been inadvertently or mistakenly entered into the electoral rolls although how this could have happened is anyone’s guess.

Coincidentally, the legalisation of the foreign workers came at a most crucial time (in August 2011), with the 13th general election widely tipped to be held by March next year.