Pardon minor corruption, Ambiga tells Pakatan

(The Malaysian Insider) – Pakatan Rakyat (PR) should pardon those involved in minor corruption if it wins Putrajaya so the country can move forward quickly after a change in power, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said today.

The Bersih 2.0 chairman, citing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, said amnesty was a crucial tool to establish a clean government as it would inspire and permit more rapid change in Malaysia’s political culture.

This did not mean, however, that those found guilty of grand corruption would also be similarly pardoned, she stressed.

“We must punish the big fish but we can forgive the small fish so we can progress without obstacles,” she told the 2,000-strong crowd at the PR convention here.

Ambiga said a similar pardon for those involved in the deaths of A. Kugan, Teoh Beng Hock and Ahmad Sarbaini would also allow their respective families to finally find peace.

“Will Pakatan set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission like South Africa?” she asked, to claps from the crowd.

The former Bar Council president also called on all civil servants involved in the alleged registration of foreign nationals as voters to cease their involvement in such activities.

“We call on civil servants… not to help any party cheat in elections,” she said.

All of Bersih’s eight demands must be fulfilled before the next election, she said, otherwise it would be an insult to the parliamentary select committee on electoral reform as well as the people.

Ambiga added that voters must reject dirty politics, and candidates who were sexist, racist, had no integrity and put themselves above the people.