No election until reforms are put in place
PRESS STATEMENT: Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM)
It is no secret that a large number of Malaysian voters wish to see a regime change at Putrajaya and at state levels.
This, we seek to do by due process, and constitutionally, through free and fair elections.
This is plainly known by the Prime Minister, his government, his party and coalition members.
Yet, our electoral process is fraught with irregularities that have long rendered our general elections mere shams that do not reflect or give effect to the will of the people.
On 9th July, 2011, despite efforts on the part of the government and the police to hinder the right to legitimately assemble and protest, thousands of Malaysians descended on to the streets of Kuala Lumpur to make known their grievances with regard to the serious irregularities in our electoral system, and to present their demands to reform the same.
Whilst the government and the Election Commission had initially continued to insist that those irregularities were more imagined than real, they had finally relented and, early last month, caused to be established a Parliamentary Select Committee to look into the various complaints in relation to our electoral system.
Both before and after the setting up of this Select Committee, we have been feted to revelation upon revelation of improprieties that would certainly render any hope of free and fair elections being held, futile. These include :
1. an admission by the Election Commission, of the inclusion in the electoral roll of 42, 051 names whose records are unverifiable, thus clearly rendering the sanctity of the roll seriously and undisputably unreliable
2. acknowledgement of and agreement by the Election Commission to remove the names of 220 non-ctiizens whose names appeared in the supplementary electoral roll draft for the Paya Jaras state constituency for the second quarter of 2011
3. a disclosure through Wikileaks that 600,000 foreigners were given citizenship and placed on the electoral as voters in Sabah in the 90’s, during the tenure of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, and with his full complicity
4. another exposure through Wikileaks that former Election Commission chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman had admitted to his having knowledge of the issuance of more than 60,000 fake Malaysian identity cards to foreign workers in Sabah in the 1990s on Umno’s orders
5. a report that there exist on the electoral roll cloned voters, numbering approximately 10,000
6. the disenfranchisement of approximately 700,000 eligible voters currently overseas, by failing to recognise their status as absent voters and, as provided for under the constitution, afford to them the right and the requisite facilities to vote by post
7. the changes to voter registration rules, thus hampering ongoing efforts to register the more than 4 million as yet unregistered Malaysians who have reached voting age.
It is against this setting that we have now received credible information that the Prime Minister is intent on seeking the dissolution of Parliament on 11th November, and to fix polling day for the 13th general elections on 10th December, 2011.
If true, we see this as a move, once again, by UMNO and the Barisan Nasional to hold on to power, both at federal and state levels, through fraudulent means and to thereby deny the legitimate pursuit by a majority of Malaysians for regime changes.
The people are no longer prepared to countenance this blatant and shameless attempt to retain power through foul means.
We reiterate here that we are desirous of securing a regime change in Putrajaya through free and fair elections.
Any elections called before the Parliamentary Select Committee has completed its work and, before the reforms demanded are given effect to, will be anything but free and fair.
We are determined to and will take all steps necessary to not allow any general elections called before the requisite reforms are put in place, to proceed.
Haris Ibrahim
President
Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement
