BERSIH Concurs with The Star that EC Must Account for Election Expenditure

“It is incumbent upon the Election Commission to provide a full and proper accounting of all election-related expenditure, details of which should be available online and on request.”

Such was the views of an editorial of the Star on Sunday 23 December 2007, which BERSIH would like to express support.

Often (wrongly) being depicted as anti-establishment element by the mainstream media, it is perhaps a rarity that BERSIH, coalition for clean and fair election, would concurs with the views of such media.

According to the Election Commission Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, the coming general election would cost RM 200 million to conduct, in which RM 1 million to be spent on indelible ink and RM 16 million for transparency ballot boxes.

For the record, BERSIH has never requested for the transparent ballot boxes and has always been of the view that it is the systemic malpractice and fraudulent processes built into the electoral system which is distorting the credibility of Malaysian elections — not the ballot boxes.

It is high time that the Election Commission accounts for its election expenditure so as to prove its financial integrity, as well as its credibility as a public institution tasked with upholding democracy in this country.

BERSIH also reiterates the need for the Election Commission to monitor the campaign financing aspect of political parties. Currently, there is a cap on monetary expenditure by candidates but no scrutiny on the sources of contribution, monetary or in-kind, to the candidate’s campaign.

Administrative neutrality is another key aspect for a fair election. Members of the outgoing government must be barred from using government machinery, and announcing development-linked allocations during an election.

For enquiries, please contact the secretariats; Faisal Mustaffa 019-2232002 or Medeline Chang 012-2192010.