BERSIH
BERSIH announces the Pesta Rakyat âJom BERSIHâ Press
Statement
12 January 2008
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) announces its second
gathering which will take place on 23 February 2008.
In response to the PM and IGPâs suggestions that BERSIH holds its gatherings
in alternative venues such as a stadium, BERSIH has decided it will apply for
three venues (Merdeka Stadium, Bukit Jalil Stadium as well as Dataran Merdeka)
for its second gathering.
We are mobilizing the rakyat again as our core demands for electoral reform
have not been seriously addressed by the Election Commission and the Barisan
Nasional. BERSIH will over the next few weeks intensify our efforts to take our
message of electoral reform to Malaysian citizens and inform them about the
rally on 23 February 2008.
As the Barisan Nasional has tried to portray any public gathering critical of
the administration as aggressive or violent events, we are declaring our rally
as a âPestaâ and a celebration of our demand for electoral reform and of
the real democracy that all freedom-loving Malaysians want. Everyone is welcome
to attend the Pesta Rakyat âJom BERSIHâ with their families.
BESIH reiterates that the PMâs and IGPâs statement that a stadium was
offered for the 10 November BERSIH rally is not true at all. The question of
alternative venues did not crop up in the discussions between BERSIH leaders
and the police, prior to the rally.
In mobilizing for the Pesta Rakyat âJom BERSIHâ, we will inform the Rakyat
about the following.
Firstly, the electoral roll remains dirty and flawed, in contrast to Tan Sri
Rashidâs claim that the electoral roll is now âfree of dubious votersâ,
as published in The Star on 9 January 2008. To take a minor example, many
Malaysians have received emails about three voters whose ICs are
â991214740101â³, â910815750017â³ and â981231081137â³ suggesting that
they are either children or more than 100 years old. BERSIH was told by the EC
HQ in Putrajaya on 31 December 2007 that the three were deceased voters and
therefore their names would be removed. As at this morning, the names of the
three are still on the electoral roll.
More seriously, voters have been transferred in and out of constituencies as
and when the EC sees fit, it seems. Apart from that, in two recent cases,
voters Sharmila Thuraisingam of Subang Jaya and Eric Liew of Petaling Jaya were
registered without their knowledge ( as in the earlier case of prominent
blogger Ahiruddin Atan aka âRockyâ ) respectively at the parliamentary seat
of Kubang Kerian, Kelantan and state seat of Sekinchang, Selangor. These cases
are essentially fraudulent registrations.
Tan Sri Rashid has still not responded specifically to Parti Keadilanâs
assertion with specific details how 12 dead Malay voters in the voting district
of Jaya Setia came out of the grave and voted in the Ijok by-election in May;
as well as how three Chinese voters at the voting district of Pekan Ijok
arrived to vote in the afternoon and were told that they had voted in the
morning!
Tan Sri Rashid has not satisfactorily explained how as many as 8,643 voters
have been transferred en mass into Ipoh Timur currently held by the
Parliamentary Opposition Leader. Of that, 3208 are new postal voters, even
though there are no new army camps or police stations in the area. Is Tan Sri
Rashid so incompetent that he knows nothing about all these examples of
electoral fraud? Or, is he shamelessly misleading the Malaysian public by
insisting that the roll is clean without explaining any of the above instances?
Electoral rolls are only the most basic requirement of a clean and fair
electoral process, something which EC has failed to comply with. BERSIH has
spelt out four other basic demands, which has been conveniently ignored by the
EC and the Government. Instead, they have been trumpeting loudly about the
introduction of transparent ballot boxes, which BERSIH has never requested for
and sees the RM16 million spent on 50,000 ballot boxes â RM320 per box â a
waste of tax-payersâ money. It would be a world-class joke if EC thinks
transparent ballot boxes equates to a transparent election.
Secondly, the implementation of BERSIHâs demand for indelible ink to prevent
multiple voting, which EC has verbally agreed to, may not even take place.
BERSIH has long demanded a trial run, involving members of the press, the
political parties and civil society groups, to address the concern of
âremovabilityâ of the ink and other technical issues. No response has been
forthcoming from the EC.
The EC has also recently insisted that an amendment to the Elections (Conduct
of Elections) Regulations must be done for the use of indelible ink. Why did
they not do it during the last yearâs Parliament session if they were serious
about implementating it? After all, the Fatwa Council gave the go-ahead for the
issue in August last year. If the EC is serious and sincere about this, it must
insist that the Government delays the imminent General Election until after the
next session of Parliament.
Thirdly, the EC has not agreed to the abolition of postal votes for the
military and police voters. In BERSIHâs 7 August 2007 meeting with the EC
Deputy Chairman Datoâ Haji Wan Ahmad and four other Commissioners, we were
assured that the police had agreed to allow polling agents to observe the
casting of postal votes. At the time, Datoâ Wan Ahmad had added that the
Ministry of Defence was not agreeable to the issue of allowing polling agents
to observe the polling process.
Furthermore, the EC is also directly responsible for the âimportâ or
âexportâ postal votes to whichever constituency they see fit, in order to
influence the result in marginal seats, as we are now witnessing in Ipoh Timur.
Fourthly, nothing has happened with regard to BERSIHâs demand for free and
fair media access. The mainstream media is blatantly used during elections to
demonise Opposition leaders and instill fear in the people by the constant
replay of footage of riots on state-owned TV stations. How can the elections be
free and fair when voters are denied their right to making informed choices?
Fifthly, instead of considering BERSIHâs demand for a campaign period of 21
days minimum, the EC Chairman has threatened to shorten it if the people take
to the street to protest against unclean elections.
May we remind the EC that the campaign period of 7 days 13 hours in 2004 is
already the shortest possible allowed by law? It is indeed truly ironic then
that our colonizers, the British, was able to give us a 42-day campaign period
in 1955!
Bersih to hold event on Feb 23 Saturday January 12, 2008
(The Star)
KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih, a coalition of opposition and non-governmental
organisations, will hold a gathering on Feb 23.
Committee member Anuar Tahir said the coalition was considering holding the
event, called Jom Bersih Peopleâs Carnival, either at Stadium Bukit Jalil or
Stadium Merdeka.
Anuar said Bersih also wanted to consider Dataran Merdeka because it was where
the independence of the country was declared.
HARI SABTU PAKAI KUNING! / WEAR YELLOW ON SATURDAYS!
Lawati laman 10November di http://10nov.himpunan.info/
Lawati laman Bersih di http://bersih.org/
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