Following a global study ranking Malaysia 66th out of 73 in terms of electoral integrity, independent polls watchdog Bersih has renewed calls for the resignation of the entire Election Commission (EC) and a total revamp of the country’s voting system.
Bersih chair Maria Chin Abdullah said the Electoral Integrity Project’s recent findings that Malaysia’s lack of integrity in its elections, particularly its electoral boundaries, vindicated Bersih’s raison d’etre, which has been fighting for electoral reforms for years.
She added that the finds of this new study necessitates a new and fully independent commission to correct flaws in existing constituency lines to give Malaysian voters adequate representation, before the EC begins its planned redelineation exercise this month.
“We do need an EC that is committed to clean and fair elections. So we need a new one.
“One that is not made up of civil servants… (but one) that is appointed from academicians, professionals, civil society… and it must be an independent body that has legal powers so it could actually take people to task for electoral fraud,” Maria Chin told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.
“This malapportionment and gerrymandering in Malaysia… this is what resulted in the popular vote being won by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) last May but BN won the election. That’s the effect,” she said.
During Election 2013, BN reclaimed its place in Putrajaya with 133 seats to PR’s 89 but lost the popular vote for the first time since 1969, scoring just under 48 per cent of the total votes cast to PR’s 51 per cent.
“If you look at it, there are so many things wrong with how our boundaries are drawn. For one thing, we have things like a voter staying in one constituency but voting in another.
“The EC has been arbitrarily shifting voters and I think the reason is to keep the ruling party in power,” Maria Chin said.
Related: Well, well: global study finds GE13 lacked integrity
Source: The Malay Mail Online
