After July 9th, What Next?

By Bowler

In the post-Bersih 2.0 rally period, the rakyat will tire of the polemics, petty quarrels and nit-picking that hasensued. Far beyond the pain and sacrifices made by our countrymen in that rally, there is a desperate need to ensure permanent good effects come out of the rally.

Leaders or leading supporters of Bersih 2.0 have been issuing contradictory statements that have undermined Bersih’s efforts.Beyond wishful thinking and vague hopes, systematic and organized strategies must be executed. Loose ends must be tied up. Here are some suggestions:

I. Abang Baharuddin’s death needs closure

Bersih 2.0 needs to assign an officer (with the agreement of the bereaved family) to work with the family to ensure they are not left alone. This officer must assist the family in every way to obtain justice until the family is fully satisfied that justice has been done and any compensation due achieved. 

2. Resolve the Tung Shin Hospital Controversy

Bersih 2.0 must assign an officer to work with hospital authorities and doctors as well as with independent NGOs to ensure that hospitals and universities are never again abused by the police – that policemen never again invade hospitals and universities – whether with tear gas, water cannons or with their dirty boots and truncheons, nor place their spies, secret agents and appointed cronies in these institutions. 

Those demonstrators who were injured by policemen with excessive and purposeful force and cruelty also need to see that their torturers are brought to justice.

An officer must be assigned to work on this too.

If there is any compensation due, this must be successfully obtained from those responsible for the atrocities. 

All these individuals cases must be settled properly and with full satisfaction of the victims. In addition, the public’s grievances must also be settled. 

3. Develop the demands of Bersih 2.0

While it is relatively easy to fight for indelible ink to be used in elections, bersih must suggest concrete and effective checks and balances  to counter dirty politics? There is some hard thinking and some hard work to be done in this area. 

Consider and tackle issues related with implementation. Take for example the cleaning up of electoral rolls. Should this be left entirely to the EC? Should there be a watch dog to check the EC? After all, one of the complaints of Bersih 2.0 is that the public servants are not fair and that some steps should be taken to ensure they are fair and professional in their approach to their work and responsibilities.

How is this to be ensured? Can the EC be trusted to clean up the electoral rolls? If there is to be a watch dog, how is it to be selected and funded? Is it to be purely voluntary or by appointment? 

How is it possible to guarantee that civil servants do not have any interest in the outcome of elections in the sense of who wins or who loses the elections? After all even Ministers refuse to declare their assets, what more top and middle ranking civil servants? Who is to ensure that their declarations are accurate? Who is responsible to dig up dirt in case of cover ups and dishonesty? 

The mechanisms to ensure that civil servants do not have any interest in who wins or loses elections have to be carefully thought out and invented yet. Bersih 2.0 needs to spend some time on this and make their proposals known to the public and voters. 

4. Resolve the problems related to postal votes.

It is enough to have observers? Do the postal voters list need to be specially checked? After all, even ordinary voters if they are unable to come to the polling stations are recommended by Bersih 2.0 to be given the postal vote.

This seems to be a very big thing and may get out of hand. Who is to say whether they can or cannot come to the polling stations? Who is to check and verify the lists of such postal voters? As if police and military postal voters are not enough, now those who are in foreign countries may be given the postal vote too. This is a logistical trap and may even backfire on Bersih 2.0. 

Prisoners should also be given the postal vote according to the principle that no one may stop a voter from exercising his right to vote. Such rights must be respected and no one may take away such rights lightly especially ministers who refuse to declare they assets. This way, if the rights are carefully protected, the people are assured they are sovereign, not UMNO. 

However, who can confirm the prisoners can vote freely and not under duress? After all their jailers have more or lees the power of life or death over them. This may influence they way they vote in a really big way. In fact rank and file soldiers are under such strict discipline that their officers have the power to make life hell for them. Who is to ensure that their votes are free and not under any duress? These things may backfire on Bersih 2.0 

Bersih 2.0 needs concrete proposals for the public and voters via practical systematic and well organized work for the next elections.

5. Counter Unfair Media Coverage

Then there is the problem of media air time and coverage. If everyone of the employees including the top bosses in a TV station is a UMNO crony, how can media air time and coverage be made equal and fair?

Bersih 2.0 needs to do some hard thinking on this too and make their proposals known to the public.

• Are independent media watch dogs needed?
• How are they to be funded and given enough means and power to ensure equal and fair media coverage?
• How are these watch dogs to be selected?
• How are they to do their work? What are the criteria and guidelines that determine their work? 

After all was it Stalin who is credited with saying that the voters are important, but the people who count the votes are even more important (or something to that effect)? Are UMNO faithful secret followers of Stalin? Should UMNO be the one to appoint the media watch dogs if this were the case? 

Take the MACC for example. The MACC is supposed to have a watch dog. However, things have gotten so much out of hand in the MACC that a RCI was needed to try and sort out a famous case involving the MACC. This should be considered a slap in the face of the MACC watch dog because they have failed in their duties to keep the MACC on track in its professionalism and integrity to the extent of requiring a RCI to do their job for them. However the thick skinned shameless characters in the watch dog commission refuse even to apologise for this let alone resign their commissions. Such watch dogs are completely useless especially if they are appointed by a Stalinist type authority. 

Bersih 2.0 needs to ensure that watch dogs not only have the professionalism and integrity, but the funds and power too to do the job they are supposed to do. 

What I suggest is that all watch dogs must be set up by parliament whether they are watch dogs to monitor media, the judiciary, the police, the EC or the MACC.

They must have the power to remove the heads of the departments concerned and they must comprise independent professionals chosen by a parliamentary team comprising government as well as opposition members. If there is dispute, the opposition has the final say in 2 cases while the government has the final say in only 1 case. 

Funding for such watch dogs must be automatic and compulsory with mechanisms to cater for inflation and special cases of importance to the public, not at the whims and fancy of the government. This case, even if the PR comes to power, BN will have control over the appointments of the watchdogs and vice versa. It will be some sort of check on absolute power. 

My proposal just highlights the difficulties involved in the cause. Bersih 2.0 cannot afford short cuts in their endeavours which require hard work.

At the end of the day, what we desperately need are checks on absolute power. The measures taken must reflect this need. Until politics becomes cleaner, such drastic measures may be withdrawn for more appropriate measures to suit the changed conditions. Hopefully by then Malaysia will be a better place to live in with greater hope for and more confidence in the future – when the rakyat are sovereign.