After gerrymandering disclosure, Bersih demands EC stop boundary revision
(MM) – Elections watchdog Bersih 2.0 today urged the Election Commission to call off its re-delineation exercise as it cast further doubt on the looming revision that has been stained by allegations of gerrymandering.
Bersih 2.0 also repeated its call for the EC clean the electoral rolls and renew its members, claiming the current members of partisan, unethical, and non-independent.
“The EC is bound by principles set down in the Federal Constitution and international standards in conducting its duties, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s 1994 Declaration on Criteria for Free and Election.
“The measure of the EC’s success is not the victory of any particular political party, but whether their actions can meet these standards,” the watchdog’s steering committee said in a statement here.
Bersih’s comments came in the wake of an admission by Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman that the three redelineation exercises during his term had ensured the continued political dominance of the Malays, even as the retired election chief insisted the redrawing of electoral boundaries were carried out in the “proper way”.
Rashid was reported to have made the comments after joining Malay rights group Perkasa, during the group’s Federal Territory annual general meeting earlier this week.
“Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman’s statements lend credence to Bersih 2.0’s long-running contention that the Malaysian EC is not an independent, non-partisan election management body,” Bersih added.
