Pakatan tones down electoral reforms
By Adib Zalkapli

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has backtracked on its commitment to electoral reforms as the coalition of three parties tried to seal an agreement on a common policy framework.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the policy framework scheduled to be launched at the PR national convention this weekend will make no commitment to restore local elections, but will merely declare its intention to “strengthen local democracy.”

Such a choice of words was made to appease party leaders who are critical of local government elections and to allow the coalition more options to handle the matter.

According to PR insiders familiar with the policy framework, opposition to local elections by party leaders is not new.

“Some party leaders believe that having local elections will make councillors dependent on the party machinery,” said a PR official who spoke on condition on anonymity.

The opponents of local elections in the federal opposition are also concerned with the “racial composition in major towns”, the administration centre of most local councils.

However, another PR leader denied that the coalition has dropped its commitment to restore the third vote arguing that the framework is merely a blueprint on how PR should move forward and details of policy implementations are not necessary at this point.

“Basically it is a commitment on issues by the three parties, once it has been endorsed, we will come out with the mechanism, on how to handle them,” a PR leader told The Malaysian Insider.

“There is no question of our commitment to local elections… it is a matter of semantics, it is about how we are saying it,” he added.

Since the suspension of local elections in the 1960s, councillors are appointed directly by the state government and this has since turned into a political reward for ruling party officials.

The restoration of local elections is one of the demands made by electoral reforms coalition, Bersih, which PR parties are part of.

In November 2007, the group organised the largest street demonstration in the city in a decade, mobilising some 60,000 protesters to demand for free and fair elections.

The coalition’s effort in mobilising support contributed to Barisan Nasional’s (BN) worst electoral performance in Election 2008, which was held just four months later.

24 hours ‘cooling-off’ period for Singapore polls

PORT OF SPAIN, Dec 1 — Singaporeans will get an extra “cooling-off” day at the next General Election, a 24-hour period during which campaigning will not be allowed so that voters can reflect calmly on their decision.

In announcing the change, which will also apply to the presidential election, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the idea had been on the table for many years.

The decision to finally go ahead comes in the light of another significant set of changes to the election rules he proposed months ago.

In May, Lee announced in Parliament that Singapore’s political system would be amended to give non-People’s Action Party (PAP) members at least 18 seats, or nearly one-fifth, of the House.

This would involve changes regarding Non-Constituency MPs and Nominated MPs, plus the Group Representation Constituency and single-member ward schemes.

“The legislation is almost done now, but there has been a little bit of delay because we had one further thought, which is to extend the period between Nomination Day and Polling Day by one extra day and to use that extra day as a cooling off period before polling itself,” Lee told the Singapore media at the end of a three-day visit here to attend biennial Commonwealth meetings.

He is now in Cuba.

He expects the Bill to be ready for its first reading in January or February, with the necessary amendments to the Constitution and related legislation completed after the Budget debate, which traditionally takes place in late February and early March.

The Budget was presented in January this year in response to the global financial crisis. The idea of a “cooling-off” period before the polls is not uncommon.

Countries like Australia, Indonesia, Italy and Mexico all have some variation of this feature in their electoral systems, with anything from one to three days of campaign silence before the final vote.

Singapore currently allows campaigning to take place between Nomination Day and the day before Polling Day. On the day that votes are cast, however, all campaigning is disallowed, meaning a ban on mass rallies, door-to-door visits, and the display of party logos and symbols.

The “cooling-off” day will, in effect, be like the Polling Day, when all forms of campaigning are disallowed. The one exception will be party political broadcasts, which are televised on the eve of the polls to summarise the messages of the different political parties. This, alongside news reporting on the election, will not be affected.

The minimum period between Nomination Day and Polling Day will be extended from nine to 10 days to compensate for the extra cooling off day.

“So you have basically the campaign period the same as before, one extra day which is a quiet day, and then the polling,” Lee said.

“We think there’s merit in this idea (of a cooling-off day). After a very exciting and emotional election campaign, you really ought to have some time to calm down, reflect on the issues and the arguments, and analyse what’s at stake, logically, rationally, and then to go in to the polls to cast your vote in a calm and steady state of mind.”

Another advantage, particularly if the election has been an emotional one, is that the extra day will help lower the risk of public disorder.

The Prime Minister said he recalled past election rallies at which there was pushing and shoving as the crowds got worked up. In some cases, crowds also refused to disperse after the rallies were over.

“It is good to have 24 hours to calm down, think about it, and then tomorrow we vote,”said Lee.

But will this work as well in the era of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and other forms of online social media?

Lee acknowledged that there was a grey area with regard to the Internet, where private exchanges could quickly become public ones, and the policing of online violators could be tricky.

Nonetheless, he hoped the spirit and principle of the “cooling-off” period would be upheld by Internet users.

The websites of the political parties, however, will be bound by the new rules.

“I can’t control several million videos on YouTube. But your website, what you are putting out in your own name, I think that should end on the day before cooling-off day,” said Lee.

With all these political changes coming up, can Singaporeans expect to see some new faces in the PAP line-up soon?

Lee declined to give details, except to say: “The slate’s not complete yet but we are not at the starting point any more.”

The Prime Minister also remained coy about whether the changes meant Singapore would have a General Election next year.

When asked, he laughed and said: “Maybe… I don’t have a date for you. There will be many milestones along the way which will tell you that the date is getting closer. But even without the milestones, I can tell you the date is getting closer.” — The Straits Times

Note: Even political party websites will be bound by this ruling!

http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/12/01/websites-of-political-parties-will-be-bound-by-cooling-off-day-rules/

December 13, 2009 11:34 AM

Malaysians To Observe Uzbekistan Parliamentary Elections

SHAH ALAM, Dec 13 (Bernama) — A four-member Malaysian observer team led by Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar has been selected to observe Uzbekistan’s parliamentary elections on Dec 27.

The four Malaysians will be part of an International Observers Group that will be deployed throughout the republic to monitor the conduct and the outcome of the election to ascertain whether it is free or fair.

The other three members of the team are Asean Law Association of Malaysia honorary secretary S.Radhakrishnan, Perdasama president Datuk Moehamad Izat Emir and senior lawyer Kamarudin Ahmad.

The Malaysians have been invited by the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan, M. Abdusalomov, as international observers during polling in Uzbekistan, the most populous republic in central Asia.

“About 200 international observers from more than 40 countries, including the European Union, are also expected to attend and observe Uzbekistan’s parliamentary election. The purpose of inviting the international obersvers to the election was to ensure transparency,” Radhakrishnan told Bernama on Sunday.

He said the Malaysian delegation was expected to leave for Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Dec 22.

Radhakrishnan has the distinction of being the sole delegate from Malaysia who was invited as an international expert to participate in the International Conference on Uzbekistan Elections held in July 2009 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan, a country measuring 447,400 sq km, where Muslims make up about 85 per cent of its population, shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south.

The republic obtained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and has a population of 27 million.

– BERNAMA

As reported by Malaysian Insider portal:

Asked on Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s call for independent observers from Australia to monitor the next general election in the country, Dr Mahathir said: “If it is the white man, he will trust. If its Malays, it is otherwise.”

It was Dr M who agreed with suggestion from Opposition Leader Tengku Razaleigh to invite Commonwealth observers to observe the 1990 general elections in Malaysia. Dr M didn’t have objection then. But now he has-and the objection is strange: if he really object to observers on racial ground alone-then Australia can send a full black observer team to observe Malaysia’s elections! But would Malaysia agree then? Actually many other countries can send a non-white team of observers if Malaysia can agree to let them in officially!
So: the real reason for rejecting observer is simply that:

Some politicians do want to hide something!

At the last visit of the observer the observation result was that Malaysian elections were free but not fair. The verdict probably cause the observers to be the last ones allowed in! But would the world then be kept from knowing that the elections are not free and fair????

Ong BK

The SPR, while claiming a lack of power generally, insist that they have all the discretion to invite any observers to the Malaysian elections-whether local or international. Indeed it has exercise the discretion in these ways: allow only 1 local group as election observers -and subject them to numerous restrictions, while disallowing international observers. What are behind their discretions? the excuse that the local elections are beyond reproach is not supported by the last international observers’ verdict: our elections are `free but not fair’. They were from the Commonwealth. So what could be the reasons for rejecting the interests from other countries to observe our elections other than we could have something to hide?

Ong BK

PRU-13: Anwar, maaf tiada undang-undang benar pemerhati asing

Oleh G Manimaran

PETALING JAYA, Dis 5 — Negara tiada undang-undang bagi membolehkan pemerhati asing dibenarkan datang untuk memantau pilihan raya umum ke-13 sebagaimana diminta oleh Pakatan Rakyat baru-baru ini, kata Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR).

Berdasarkan pengalaman mengendalikan pilihan raya umum sejak lebih lima dekad suruhanjaya itu juga merasakan tidak perlu ada pemerhati asing didatangkan khusus bagi tujuan tersebut.

“Bagi membolehkan kita melakukan itu (membawa pasukan pemerhati pilihan raya asing) perlu ada undang-undang yang menyediakan peruntukan benarkan pasukan pemerhati asing,” kata Timbalan Pengerusi SPR Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar kepada The Malaysian Insider.

“Kita tiada undang-undang bagi membolehkan sama ada kerajaan (persekutuan) atau SPR menjemput rakyat asing secara rasmi untuk memantau urusan pilihan raya.

“Jadi apabila tiada undang-undang, maka terserah kepada budi bicara kerajaan atau SPR untuk membuat jemputan, mereka datang atas jemputan SPR sebagai tetamu kita,” kata beliau.

Lazimnya pasukan pemantau asing ini boleh dibawa oleh kerajaan ataupun dijemput oleh suruhanjaya pilihan raya.

“Jadi, apabila tiada undang-undang maka terserah kepada budi bicara kerajaan atau SPR untuk memanggil wakil negara asing datang untuk memerhatikan perjalanan pilihan raya,” kata beliau lagi.

Jelas beliau jika perwakilan asing dijemput sebagai “tetamu” mereka tidak boleh menjalankan kerja-kerja memantu sebagaimana dibenarkan kepada mana-mana pasukan pemantau atau pemerhati.

“Saya merasakan bahawa Datuk Seri Anwar menyatakan pandangannya tanpa menyedari tentang perkara ini (tiada peruntukan undang-undang),” katanya.

Jelas Wan Ahmad, jika PR sendiri mahu membawa pasukan pemantau ia tidak akan diiktiraf oleh kerajaan ataupun suruhanjaya pilihan raya.

Sambil mempertahankan sistem pilihan raya negara ini masih baik dan tidak pernah dipertikaikan oleh mana-mana pemimpin luar, Wan Ahmad memberitahu, pihaknya juga membenarkan pasukan bebas pemerhati tempatan iaitu Mafrel.

Pilihan raya umum 1990 — yang ketiga di bawah kepimpinan Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad sebagai Perdana Menteri — negara menyaksikan kehadiran pasukan pemantau asing.

Pasukan pemerhati itu dibenarkan oleh kerajaan ekoran permintaan pembangkang di bawah Gagasan Rakyat kepada Komanwel supaya menghantar pasukan pemantau.

Dalam temu bual dengan akhbar The Age Australia, Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yang mengetuai ikatan pembangkang menghadapi pilihan raya umum Mac 2008 meminta Australia menghantar pasukan pemerhati untuk memantau perjalanan pilihan raya umum ke-13 yang ramai jangkakan kemungkinan diadakan dalam waktu terdekat.

Mandat semasa hanya akan berakhir April 2013 tetapi ramai meramalkan ia kemungkinan dipanggil dalam tempoh satu hingga dua tahun lagi.

Dr Mahathir juga menjangkakan pilihan raya umum akan diadakan dalam tempoh dua tahun.

Anwar yang juga Ketua Umum Pakatan Rakyat, ikatan tidak formal yang dibentuk selepas pilihan raya umum ke-12 Mac 2008 memberitahu bahawa sistem pilihan raya negara ini masih memperlihatkan beberapa kekurangan yang tidak memihak kepada mereka.

Kempen pilihan raya yang dijangkakan tahun depan bukan sesuatu yang mudah bagi Anwar yang kini berhadapan dengan kes liwat – yang kedua dalam tempoh 10 tahun.

Pada pilihan raya umum tahun lalu PR yang terdiri daripada DAP, PKR dan PAS memenangi 82 kerusi Parlimen dengan menafikan kedudukan majoriti dua pertiga yang dinikmati Barisan Nasional (BN) sejak 50 tahun lalu.

Malah PR menguasai Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Kelantan, Perak dan Selangor. Bagaimanapun Perak kembali diambil alih oleh BN selepas tiga wakil rakyat PR keluar parti masing-masing.

“Senarai pemilih tidak boleh dicabar, tiada liputan (bebas) media, anggota keselamatan (juga) bukan berpihak kepada kami,” kata Anwar dipetik The Age.

“Pada masa lalu (pilihan raya umum ke-12 Mac 2008) kami telah lakukan dengan baik. Kali ini kami meminta negara-negara seperti, termasuk Australia, agar menghantar pasukan bebas (untuk memantau perjalanan pilihan raya).
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“Jangan bercakap pasal demokrasi jika anda menafikan perkara ini dan mengatakan yang baik-baik sahaja untuk menyenangkan pemimpin-pemimpin diktator dan autoritarian,” kata Anwar memenangi kembali kerusi Parlimen Permatang Pauh menerusi pilihan raya kecil Ogos 2008.

In a move to prepare ahead of the re delineation exercise by Election Commission next year BERSIH organised a workshop today at Garden Hotel to look into possible responses to that EC’s move which could jeopardize Malaysia’s 2-party future. 2 issues of concern were raised: mal-apportionment (manipulating sizes of constituencies) and gerrymandering(manipulating the boundaries of constituencies).

To counter mal-apportionment there is a ready argument to ensure 1-man-1-vote, which however run counter to the well accepted idea of giving rural weightage. Compromise: fix the standard for such weightage eg return to the 15% variation from the average constituency size as existed in the 50’s.

To counter the gerrymandering it is more difficult as multiple factors are involved. A particular argument ie to maintain a community of interests, may run into conflict with the fight against mal-apportionment. However there are numerous ways from international experiences presented from resource persons, to work out better boundaries -including a best practice from Ohio, USA where the EC held a competition to locate the best proposal which optimally satisfy the various demands of a best boundary!

Ong BK

On Nov 30th(Monday) Transparency International organised a workshop which focus on the vexed issue of political financing. A floated idea to allow state funding for election campaigns by candidates drew debate from the floor. However the show was stolen by SPR’s spokeperson Dato Seri Wan Ahmad doing a passing the buck show with MACC spokeperson over the issue of who should handle financial irregularities during elections!

While the EC is the body empowered by the Constitution to carry out the elections on a free and fair basis SPR claimed that it has no power to monitor and investigate financial irregularities during elections eg vote buying, abuse of state resources, making allocations/projects using government funds etc. MACC further claim that such offenses are not within its `prescribed list’ of offenses to take action. So who will deal with such offences mentioned in the Election Offences Act as punishable with harsh penalties and prison terms? With both sides trying to pass the buck Malaysians are not protected from the negative influence of such offenses!

On the Kota Siputih issue EC spokeperson try to justify its unwillingness to hold by-election after being noticed by Kedah Speaker by saying that they are not brainless entity to accept the instruction from the Speaker. However another speaker Dr Marvi disclosed an inconsistency in the EC’s conduct. When Berjaya party in Sabah used a pre-signed resignation letter of Pairin Kittingan to force a by-election the SPR held an election without asking if the Assemblyman did wanted to resign! In the event the voters returned Pairin to his Tambunan seat and even pulled down Harris Salleh state government in the subsequent state election, showing the depth of disgust the voters (and Opposition at that time) about the tactics of using pre-signed resignation letter to force resignation from a duely elected Assemblyman!

Pakatan party should reflect on if it is a good move to follow the despised BN’s tactics else where.

State finding for candidates/parties’ campaign was proposed to help ensure level playing field for candidates/parties. However some are worried that abuses can happen and smaller/new parties could be disadvantaged because the funding typically would be based on votes received at previous election.

Ong BK

EC does not have power to combat abuses of political funds

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 30, 2009) : The Electoral Commission (EC) only has the power to regulate how and what campaign materials are used, and does not have the jurisdiction to combat abuses of political funds, said its deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

“The legal authority and responsibility of the EC is confined to the enforcement of S24B of the Election Offences Act, pertaining to the use and type of election campaign materials, the display of election materials and regulations and limitations,” he said.

Wan Ahmad was speaking at the Transparency International-Malaysia conference on Political Financing today. The conference was also attended by political analysts, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) representatives and civil society groups.

The deputy chairman said the current laws constrained the EC. “Although the EC is the management body in charge of elections, the power to investigate any wrongdoings by parties, and the enforcement of the laws against illegal campaign activities including political financing and corrupt practices is not with the EC, a constraint and a challenge to us which the EC has to accept,” he said.

Wan Ahmad said funds are needed for political campaigns, to print banners, literature, flyers, posters and to organise political events in order to win votes.

“Candidates now are spending thousands to campaign and win votes. Where this money comes from and how much is spent are some of the questions in everyone’s minds, including that of the EC,” he added.

Wan Ahmad said the EC is of the opinion that activities regarding political corruption should be monitored by the police and addressed by the Home Ministry. This is because the authority behind the registration of political parties in this country is the Registrar of Societies, which is under the Home Ministry.

“In the absence of specific provisions in law to charge a political party in court for illegal election practices, it is a challenge for the EC, police or the MACC to enhance transparency in political finances during elections,” explained Wan Ahmad.

Touching on the post-election disclosure of finances to the EC, which all candidates must do within 30 days of the election results being published, he said the commission was also constrained in what it can do to scrutinise the reports.

“The EC must be provided with the adequate authority to carry out its constitutional functions including dealing with money politics. The failure to ensure political transparency is due to certain factors, one of them being the attitude of certain political players in the field and due to the unwillingness of candidates to discontinue the current ways to win votes,” he added.

However fellow panellist MACC Excellence and Professionalism Director Abdul Wahab Abdul Aziz, said EC had a role to check political abuses of money.

“Under the Election Offences Act, a candidate needs to make a financial report which is to be submitted to the state EC. With this, the next issue is enforcement of two areas: expenses and corrupt practices.”

While dealing with corrupt practices is under the MACC’s jurisdiction, the EC can still look at the expenses and enforcing regulations, he said.

“One important area is monitoring, which is the duty of the EC because the report is submitted to them and they can monitor that. We don’t have the power to touch matters pertaining to expenses,” said Abdul Wahab, who called for a single agency to deal with such matters.

No plans for anonymous postal votes, says Nazri

[Form 2 needed to trace postal ballots, says Nazri. — Picture by Choo Choy May]

Form 2 needed to trace postal ballots, says Nazri. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — The government has no plan to abolish the “Borang 2” (Form 2) in the postal voting system as the form is necessary to ensure that the ballot paper is issued to the right individual, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the form would help determine the valid postal ballot paper should there be fraud in the issuing of postal ballots during an election.

“Without the serial number of the ballot paper on the form, it will be difficult to trace the postal ballots. This is the main reason why Borang 2 has to be retained,” he said in a written reply to Abdul Aziz Abdul Kadir (PKR-Ketereh).

Abdul Aziz had asked the government to state the factors which prohibited the abolition of the form in the postal voting system.

The regulations require a postal voter to complete Borang 2 by giving his or her full name, identity card number and the ballot paper number.

The form will be retained by the returning officer. — Bernama

High Court blocks EC bid, insists on by-election in Kedah
By Debra Chong(Malaysianinsider.com )

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — The Election Commission failed today to get the High Court here to stay its decision last week that a by-election must be held in the Kedah state seat of Kota Siputeh within 60 days.

But lawyers from the Attorney General’s Chambers representing the EC said they would file an appeal against the High Court’s rejection with the Court of Appeal.

The High Court upheld its decision and ordered the EC to issue a notice calling for a by-election by Nov 25.

Judge Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin had in her ruling earlier rejected the EC’s plea for a stay pending its appeal challenging the court’s decision that the Kota Siputeh seat, which was won by Umno’s Datuk Abu Hasan Sarif in Election 2008, is vacant.

The judge dismissed the EC’s objection on the basis that organising a by-election involved a large amount of funds.

She also brushed aside the EC’s arguments that problems may arise later on if the top court ruled in its favour and cancelled the need for a by-election after they had carried it out.

The judge pointed out that the problem of voters having two Kota Siputeh assemblymen was not an issue that should concern the EC.

She said that it was the EC’s duty to carry out elections, regardless of the amount of money involved and any possible fall-out resulting from the by-election.