Bersih 2.0 rally is still politics all the same

 

(The Star) – IF the planned Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 at first seemed like an independent movement, there should be no such illusions now.

Of course we should have free and fair elections, which sums up Bersih’s populist nature. Rally organisers are thus assuming that the coming general election would not be free and fair.

To insist on this before the election campaign has even begun is merely to assume the worst. It creates cynical distrust in the authorities to give rally organisers and their political ringleaders a psychological advantage.

If Malaysian elections had not been credible, the Pakatan Rakyat would not have won its several unprecedented victories in 2008. And if there had been no need for such demonstrations before, why does anyone need them now other than to score political points?

Both pro- and anti-rally groups are in need of coming clean themselves.

Perkasa is a den of controversy and the remarks by its chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali smack of sedition, which is so typical of him. Umno Youth is accused of money politics in its polls, and PKR has still not resolved serious irregularities in its party elections.

PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had reportedly said he would tell Bersih 2.0 chairperson Datuk S. Ambiga to call off the rally if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would guarantee a free and fair general election.

Ambiga has, however, said it was not Anwar’s call while the Opposition Leader has claimed that he was misquoted.

But since the brinkmanship roadshow is a political fling, no election campaign delivered by one side will be good enough for the other. And since no election anywhere is perfect, “free and fair” will become a very subjective label in any democracy.

By all means let us all have as clean, free and fair elections as much as possible. This should apply to by-elections as well as general elections.

It is also good for the Election Commission to opt for the biometric system to enable the verification of voters in the coming general election to be done electronically.

And by all means let us also have people honest enough to own up to the partisan nature of the rally exercise. They might then also admit to the superfluous nature of it all.

Even if an election were to be neither free nor fair, no rally prior to the election campaign is likely to change that.

Therefore Bersih 2.0 and its counter-rallies are only politicking and posturing pretending to be righteous popular movements.

What is not so subjective is the law as it stands, which requires a permit for staging such demonstrations. If rally organisers could channel as much energy and thought into constructive suggestions for better elections, they would serve the country better.