Election Commission will be PSC’s first witness
PSC’s Pakatan representatives say they do not want to be part of a ‘toothless’ committee and will bring up suggestions for reforms.
(Free Malaysia Today) – The Election Commission (EC) will be the first witness when the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for electoral reform meets tomorrow.
And the PSC hopes that EC chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof will show up for the meeting as the PSC was a parliamentary committee which held some stature.
The Pakatan Rakyat representative in the PSC, Anthony Loke, told a press conference today that the panel is not certain who will represent the EC tomorrow but it hopes that it would not be “any regular officer”.
“We hope they (EC) will not say that they did not get enough notice as we have already informed them that they will be interviewed since our first meeting few weeks ago,” said Loke, the DAP Rasah MP.
Besides Loke, the other opposition representatives in the committee are Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) and Dr Hatta Ramli (PAS-Kuala Krai).
Azmin said that he hoped Abdul Aziz himself will show up as the PSC was a parliamentary committee which held some stature.
The opposition representatives also said that they hoped the EC will be committed to implementing reforms.
They said that the PSC has a six-month deadline to come up with suggestions for electoral reforms, but the same time-line should not apply to the EC if it was serious in implementing reforms.
“These changes do not need any amendments to the law… cleaning up the electoral roll, for example, is something the EC can embark upon now without waiting for the PSC’s suggestions,” said Azmin, who is PKR deputy president.
He said the opposition did not want to be part of a “toothless” committee, adding that they will make a few suggestions at a meeting today.
