Ambiga: Unconstitutional to have Election Commission report to another committee

(ABN News) – It is unconstitutional to have the Election Commission report to a Parliamentary Select Committee because the EC is supposed to be independent, Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan said.

She was commenting on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s announcement this morning that to strengthen the EC’s authority and credibility, the government would set up a special committee comprising Members of Parliament from the Barisan Nasional and the Opposition to oversee the commission.

“With this move, it is hoped the EC’s impartiality will not be questioned and the people’s confidence towards the commission is strengthened,” Najib said in his congratulatory speech to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah on his birthday and investiture ceremony involving the presentation of awards and medals at Istana Negara today.

“To make the EC report to another committee is unconstitutional, because if you look at the Federal Constitution, it is supposed to be an independent body,” Ambiga told Malaysiakini.

Ambiga said the EC members have equal standing to a federal court judge and putting the EC under a committee is akin to putting the judiciary under another authority.

“The EC is not a government department even though it behaves like one. It has been behaving like a government department because it is being treated like one, so the sooner everyone realises the functions and powers of the EC, the better.

“That is why Bersih holds such a high standard of accountability for the EC,” said the lawyer, Malaysiakini reported.

She added that it would be better to have the EC heads removed than to announce a special committee to oversee a commission that has already lost public confidence.