ex EC chief asked BN supporters to boycott election

Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, the former Electoral Commission chairman asked Barisan Nasional supporters who are afraid to voice out criticism of BN leadership to boycott the impending 14th general elections.

If he is only referring to BN supporters who may vote BN candidates, I support his call, otherwise I would call on them to vote for Pakatan Harapan instead. Why, because the corrupt BN government will not reform by itself. In fact Ambiga said categorically that it is imperative that the BN coalition should no longer govern Malaysia after such a huge scandal as !MDB.

I remembered witnessing Haris Ibrahim of People's Parliament had in 2008 (from memory) had torn a photocopy of Abdul Rashid in disgust at the actions of the EC chief then. I wonder is Haris would still do the same now.

Update: Dr. Mahathir claims boycotting elections is a BN ploy.

Political funding: BN and opposition positions

UMNO/BN is now hammering on the point that it was the opposition parties that opposed disclosure of their funders. And Najib who is currently under a big dark cloud of suspicions, have come out to proclaim that he is prepared to declare UMNO's funders if the opposition is prepared to do likewise?

Malaysia badly needs transparency regarding political funding, but just why are the opposition parties reluctant to do so? To me, it is clear, it is because of the uneven playing field, the fact that practically every institution of importance (Election Commissions, Registra of Societies, Police, the mainstream media, MACC etc) in Malaysia is under a cloud of suspicions that they are not impartial. Not forgetting power abuses such as punishing opposition funders by withholding license, contracts and business whereas UMNO/BN funders would have no worries in this area.

Take the Election Commission and the blatant case of Najib recorded on video his "I help you, you help me" case in Sibu for example. Did the Election Commission do anything? And the blatant use of government facilities for campaigning during elections. That is clearly wrong but the EC just looked the other way.

Whereas because power is currently in UMNO/BN's hands. Business and individuals will not worry about their funding activities revealed as they would never be punished, on the other hand they probably would be rewarded. Not only that, there is a cap on the amount of funds that can be used in campaigning during elections. UMNO/BN could probably exceed it, even opening I think, and the EC would probably not act. For example, when it was revealed that a huge amount of money was banked into Najib's account which Najib did not deny but only said he did not take money for personal use. He probably was trying to say the money was used for political purposes, but did the EC do anything as very likely, the cap on political funding was breached.

International Fact Finding mission & Malaysia elections

The International Fact Finding Mission in a press conference had scathing remarks about the election system in Malaysia, with one labeling the EC as backward:



Key recommendations and grave concerns
Media access for opposition politicians
Importance of verification of voters
Minimum election campaign
Ensure one vote one value (regarding fair approportionment)

Mohamad Nasir Tamara Tamimi (Indonesia)
Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo (Pakistan)
Clinton Fernandes (Australia)
Mobashar Jawed Akbar (India)

Crucial basis of democracy
Freedom from fear
Freedom of peaceful association

Malaysia does not deserve democracy
Slander should not be permitted as part of electoral rect....
No party should be allowed to excite community hatred
Oldest tactic: provoke the victim in order to blame the victim

urge Australia to play a leading role as part of the Commenwealth to ensure free and fair election

It was a peaceful demonstration and a case of the victims being victimized
Running away from tear gas cannisters only to be met by more canisters
Media completely biased and unfair

In other countries, buses were provided to gather the people to make success of the rally
Election Commission looked so backward

UMNO Secretart General

EC Deputy Chairman caught lying

The Malaysia Election Commission Deputy Chairman Wan Ahmad was caught lying when questioned by the International Fact Finding team on his UMNO membership.

He had told the team that no current member of the EC is a member of any political party. However, just a few days ago he had admitted in a response to Sinar Harian that he is an inactive UMNO member.

This showed how incompetent our Election Commission officials are and there is no question as per BERSIH demand that they should resign!!!

EC President & Deputy UMNO membership details

Here is the Election Commission President and Deputy President's UMNO membership numbers and branch details:

Nama ABDUL AZIZ BIN MOHD YUSOF
No KP 500124105279
No KP Lama 2698922
No Keahlian UMNO 113804
Kod Cawangan 09920036 = SRI AMPANG BARU
Kod DUN 09920 = LEMBAH JAYA
Kod Bahagian 099 = AMPANG
Negeri SELANGOR


EC deputy chief Wan Ahmad Wan Omar is a member of the
Pasir Mas Umno Division

Nama WAN AHMAD BIN WAN OMAR
No KP 490101035179
No KP Lama 2756290
No Keahlian UMNO 2374564
Kod Cawangan 02213049 = KUBANG BUNGGOR
Kod DUN 02213 = CHETOK
Kod Bahagian 022 = PASIR MAS
Negeri KELANTAN

So now you know why they have been acting like the Election Commission is a branch of UMNO/BN. For this scandal, they must accede to BERSIH 3.0 demand to resign.

EC amendments alone enough to justify Bersih 3.0

EC amendments alone enough to justify Bersih 3.0

Ambiga Sreenevasan
9:32AM Apr 27, 2012

COMMENT I note from the Malaysiakini report ‘I voted for removal of polling agents, says Khairy’, that after our debate on Wednesday, Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin made further statements to the press regarding the Election Offences (Amendment) Bill 2012 which was passed by Parliament on April 19.
I would like to comment on some of the issues he raised to the press that he had not addressed during the debate.
We must be very clear about the far reaching effects of these amendments that stop agents of candidates from being in the election booth.
The amendment removes entirely the only effective check on phantom and illegal voters.  
The candidate’s agents can detect anything suspicious relating to the voters as they go through the booth in the polling stations. Their ICs can be scrutinised here and they will have visual confirmation of the voter.
The right of a candidate to have his or her agents within the polling stations is therefore vital to ensure oversight of the electoral process.
The unholy haste with which the amendments were rushed through Parliament on the last day of its sitting without proper consultation raises many questions.
When asked about the purported trouble being created by the election agents, which was the basis of the amendment, no evidence of it was provided in Parliament. 

The response that polling agents could still set up booths 50 metres away from the polling stations is no answer at all. Fifty metres is over 160 feet! It is impossible for agents to "monitor suspicious voters" from that distance.
This will now also reduce the effect of indelible ink as no one can see from that distance if the finger of a person who has voted is marked.
Although polling agents inside the polling stations are still allowed, they are placed too far from the voters to detect anything suspicious.

Why EC did not inform PSC on changes?
Another question that remains unanswered is why did the Election Commission not disclose its proposal to amend section 26A of the Election Offences Act to the Parliamentary Select Committee?
If it had such a problem with the agents, this was the best place to raise it.
Against the backdrop of the persistent and unexplained problems with the electoral roll, this utter lack of openness by the Election Commission, combined with the speed with which the amendments were passed through Parliament, only increases suspicions about electoral fraud and the public’s loss of confidence in the independence and integrity of the commission.
This amendment done in this manner is reason enough for Bersih 3.0.

Umno affiliation makes EC duo partisans

Umno affiliation makes EC duo partisans

Terence Netto
7:28PM Apr 27, 2012

COMMENT Referees must not only act impartially but must be seen to be so.
Their bona fides as neutral interlocutors, favouring no side in enforcing the rules, must be beyond question. Otherwise their position as referee is untenable.
The old saw that justice must not only be done but seen to be done applies to any role requiring the mediation of a person vested with the task of holding the scales between competing interests in a balanced way.
In these roles, the appearance of being fair and doing what is fair are indivisible aspects of the same function, the one dovetailing nicely with the other - a seamless garment with no folds.
By these standards, the present chairman and secretary of the Election Commission (EC), Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof (above) and Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (right) respectively, now find their positions untenable.
The fact they are Umno members straightaway renders their occupation of the top two posts in the body charged with running and refereeing elections in Malaysia as impossible to justify on grounds of natural justice.
The honourable thing for both of them to do is to quit their positions without delay.
Their replacement by people with strong credentials for fair conduct must be effected before the next general election.    
Now that it is not denied Abdul Aziz and Wan Ahmad are Umno members, nothing they say in extenuation can absolve them of their being in a caught-out situation - that is, they are not neutral interlocutors, and cannot be construed as having the capacity to be impartial.
In other words, their membership in a political party has encumbered them with the fatal flaw of partisanship.
The very fact that both, having been caught-out in a non-neutral zone, have said things in mitigation of their position as Umno members only serves to highlight the defect in their capacity for fair dealing.
A proper conception of that capacity would have, by dint of their membership of a political party, prevented them from being eligible for appointment to their present positions in the EC.
But an Umno-dominated government, steeped in a half-century’s habit of thinking its writ is beyond question, has blurred the lines of demarcation between state and party interests such that people like Abdul Aziz and Wan Ahmad don’t know the difference between the two even when they are appointed to positions that make it imperative they do.
Thus when they are caught out as they have been in this instance when it is undeniable they have lacked an important credential - non-partisanship - for their present position, they stumble into an orgy of extenuation, retailing one excuse after another.
EC’s partial conduct
Men of honour, when similarly caught-out, would apologise and tender their resignation.
Even if they have a plausible reason that would mitigate their offence, they will allow a lapse of time before they say something in extenuation.
One of the better examples of such nobility of conduct was displayed by former prime minister Hussein Onn in the mid-1980s, some years after his retirement from the top post.
He tangled with the Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration over who was actually responsible for the Maminco Affair, the infamous episode in 1981 when the government tried to corner the international market in tin on the London exchange.
The affair incurred huge losses and was deeply embarrassing to the government. Incidentally, cabinet records showed that the decision to corner the market was made at the tail end of Hussein’s tenure as PM.
Apparently, Hussein could not recall the episode. In extenuation, it must be said that he was recovering from heart bypass surgery at the time the cabinet decision was taken and when his administration was virtually on auto-pilot.
Yet, when the relevant cabinet meeting minutes were publicly exposed and showed that he was in charge, he did not hesitate to offer his apology for the memory lapse.
Many sympathised with him, sensing his anguish at having to be saddled with responsibility for an action whose enormity could not be visualised at the point in time when it was made and about a matter whose initial contours were hazy at best and unthreatening at worst.
The ethos that Umno has foisted on the nation’s politics, which has allowed someone to be chief justice who had earlier been the party’s lead counsel, has become so permissive that Abdul Aziz and Wan Ahmad could be forgiven for thinking that their membership in Umno did not disqualify them for the posts they hold in the EC.
Umno luminaries have been appointed to the governorships of states without hereditary sultans, a position that used to be reserved for renowned educationists and other non-politically affiliated society notables.
If such permissiveness has become the norm, how, then, could ordinary membership of the party be a disqualifier for signal posts in the EC?
The baffled reactions of Abdul Aziz and Wan Ahmad to the discovery they have been Umno members are indicative of how matters to do with what is perceived as honourable and impartial conduct have deteriorated on Umno’s prolonged watch.
That watch is no longer sustainable.

---

TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for close on four decades. He likes the occupation because it puts him in contact with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them. It is the ideal occupation for a temperament that finds power fascinating and its exercise abhorrent.

EC President & Deputy President public servant?

This is what Abdul Aziz (President SPR/EC) and Wan Ahmad (Deputy President SPR/EC) contented when faced with allegations that they are UMNO members and thus cannot be independent.

However, does this 2 officials really knows their role in SPR (Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya), that is, EC (Election Commission)? The Election Commission is supposed to be independent!!!!

A public servant takes order from their superiors and thus cannot act independently. They don't know their roles. This must be the reason why they had been acting as if they are branches of UMNO/BN.

Abdul Aziz and Wan Ahmad must resign as demanded by BERSIH 3.0 as it is clear they are not acting out their true role as an independent commission. Further, it is stated that members of the EC must enjoy public confidence and confidence is what is lacking now. The public do not have confidence in them being able to really act independently.

UMNO members: Should SPR President and Deputy President resign?

According to a media statement (Kenyataan Media) by PKR below, they should resign because there are UMNO members and therefore there is conflict of interest and they cannot be expected to be independent.

However, I remembered reading they Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof (President SPR/EC) and Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (Deputy President SPR/EC) claimed they had resign prior to taking up the post. However, I am not in a position to check the veracity of their statements.

Even then, if they had really resigned prior to taking up their posts, because of their past association with UMNO, there would still be sentiments of attachment to UMNO and therefore I doubt they can really be independent. And from their past actions and statements, my opinion is they are not independent and tend to side UMNO/BN.

So my opinion is that they should resign irrespective of their current UMNO membership and based on their past actions including allowing the Election Offences Act Amendment to be presented and passed by the UMNO/BN dominated Parliament plus other reasons too long to be appended here.

Subject: KENYATAAN MEDIA: Pengerusi dan Timbalan Pengerusi SPR disaran segera letak jawatan—(EC& DEPUTY HEAD TO RESIGN)

KENYATAAN MEDIA
27 APRIL 2012

PENGERUSI DAN TIMBALAN PENGERUSI SPR DISARAN SEGERA LETAK JAWATAN

Parti Keadilan Rakyat memandang serius perkara keterlibatan Pengerusi SPR Tan Sri Abd Aziz Yusof dan Timbalan Pengerusi SPR Dato Wan Ahmad Wan Omar yang sah menjadi ahli Umno sementara masih memegang jawatan di dalam SPR.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat berpegang kepada prinsip bahawa kepercayaan awam adalah syarat tonggak dalam kriteria perlantikan seseorang sebagai anggota di dalam SPR. Seorang yang diamanahkan menduduki jawatan sebagai anggota SPR hendaklah diyakini bebas, tidak berpihak dan ‘non-partisan’. Ternyata Pengerusi dan Timbalan Pengerusi SPR gagal dalam ujian asas ini apakala terbukti mereka berdua sah menjadi ahli UMNO sepertimana maklumat berikut:

Nama ABDUL AZIZ BIN MOHD YUSOF
No KP 500124105279
No KP Lama 2698922
No Keahlian UMNO 113804
Kod Cawangan 09920036=SRI AMPANG BARU
Kod DUN 09920=LEMBAH JAYA
Kod Bahagian 099 = AMPANG
Negeri SELANGOR

Nama WAN AHMAD BIN WAN OMAR
No KP 490101035179
No KP Lama 2756290
No Keahlian UMNO 2374564
Kod Cawangan 02213049=KUBANG BUNGGOR
Kod DUN 02213= CHETOK
Kod Bahagian 022 = PASIR MAS
Negeri KELANTAN

Kita berpendapat jalan terbaik untuk kedua-dua mereka membantu mengembalikan kepercayaan rakyat terhadap kewibawaan institusi SPR lebih-lebih lagi pada ketika Malaysia akan menghadapi pilihanraya umum ke 13 akan datang ialah segera meletak jawatan.
Sekian, terima kasih.

SAIFUDDIN NASUTION ISMAIL
SETIAUSAHA AGUNG
PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT
-----------------

PRESS RELEASE
THE CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION HAVE TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is concerned about the Umno membership of both Election Commission (EC) Chairman Tan Sri Abd Aziz Yusof and Timbalan Pengerusi SPR Dato Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, as these two gentlemen run are expected to run free and fair elections in Malaysia.
Both of them have to resign their positions in the EC immediately.
PKR holds steadfast that public trust is the main requirement to run the EC. Its officials have to be impartial and non-partisan. Both of them fail this test.

Their membership in Umno is as follows:
Name: ABDUL AZIZ BIN MOHD YUSOF
Identity card number: 500124105279
Previous identity card number: Lama 2698922
UMNO membership number: 113804
Branch code: 09920036=SRI AMPANG BARU
Assembly seat code: 09920=LEMBAH JAYA
Division code: 099 = AMPANG
State: SELANGOR

Name: WAN AHMAD BIN WAN OMAR
Identity card number: 490101035179
Previous identity card number: 2756290
Umno membership number: 2374564
Branch code: 02213049=KUBANG BUNGGOR
Assembly seat code: 02213= CHETOK
Division code: 022 = PASIR MAS
State: KELANTAN

They have to leave their posts to regain public trust in the EC, more so with Malaysia expecting the 13th General Election very soon.

SAIFUDDIN NASUTION ISMAIL
SECRETARY-GENERAL
PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT
26 APRIL 2012
---
Dihantarkan kepada anda melalui / Delivered to you by:

BIRO KOMUNIKASI
PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT
A-1-09, Merchant Square
No. 1, Jalan Tropicana Selatan 1
47410 Petaling Jaya

Tel: +603 7885 0530
Fax: +603 7885 0531
E-mail: komunikasi@keadilanrakyat.org
Web: www.keadilanrakyat.org

Election Offences Act amendments - BN attempt to steal GE 13

Last Thursday, the BN government and their cohorts the SPR clearly demonstrated in unequivocal terms their intent to steal GE 13. They presented a bill to amend the Election Offences Act 1954 to further restrict scrutiny of the voting process by representatives of political parties and make the system more amenable to manipulation.

The original changes proposed included the following: a. removing the right of political parties to set up booths to assist voters establish their names on the electoral roll and saluran numbers identity of voters before going into polling stations (called "pondok panas") [section (26)(1)(e)]

b. removing the right of political parties to have representatives observing the process in the SPR booths inside polling stations ( Barung SPR ) where voters check their names and get their saluran numbers etc [section 26A] c. amending section 14 (1A) so that the SPR would dictate the time of arrival and departure of polling and counting agents of candidates at polling stations. The current law provided for polling and counting agents to arrive at the time decided by the political parties as long as they stayed at the polling stations for at least 2 hours. The net effect of these changes would have been to greatly reduce the current scrutiny of the voting process.

Pakatan Rakyat MPs put up strenuous objections to the amendments. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim warned the BN in the closing words of his speech on Thursday morning that these new provisions would be defied by the opposition even if passed by the BN. He said that Pakatan Rakyat would not give up the established rights under the law which aided transparency in the process. The BN in the afternoon of Thursday then presented fresh amendments to the Bill backing down on (a) and (c) above restoring the status quo. However they used their brute majority in the House to ram through the amendment removing party representatives observing the process in the SPR Barung.

Opposition MPs argued to no avail that the SPR Barung was initiated by the BN by amendments in 2003 to assist voters to get their electoral and saluran numbers and had been implemented in the 2004 and 2008 elections without any issues. The lame justification put forward by the BN and the SPR was that "this causes difficulties to the election workers". When asked for reports of such "difficulties" none were cited.

Another controversial amendment pushed through was the removal of section 11(1)(c) requiring all printed material during campaign to bear the name of the publisher and printer. Removal of the onerous requirement of naming the printer all the time would have improved the provision as was argued by PR MPs. However removing it all together has opened the door to a dirtier election where all sorts of defamatory or inflammatory material could be put out without anyone taking responsibility for them.

What was apparent was that the BN and SPR were not interested in presenting the necessary amendments to the law to implement KEY recommendations by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform. Nothing had been done for example on key issues such as access to the media and the question of how a caretaker government. Even the regulations to implement "early voting" which was to replace the so-called postal voting system for army personnel, their spouses and police personnel were not presented to Parliament by the last day of the sitting leaving open the question of whether the BN and SPR were going to implement this key change for GE 13.

These legislative moves by the BN and SPR on Thursday made it clear that their real intent was to make the electoral process less transparent and easier to manipulateIt is clear that BERSIH 3.0 is needed even more than before. BERSIH's demand that the key recommendations of the PSC report must be implemented before GE 13 is central to a free and fair election. The Election Commission must resign for the legislative fiasco they caused in Parliament on Thursday and for their intransigence in implementing the PSC report and BERSIH demands. Sivarasa Rasiah Ahli Parlimen Subang Majlis Pimpinan Pusat dan Biro Politik Parti Keadilan Rakyat

Gerrymandering & Malapportionment - Mother of all electoral abuses

The EC (Election Commission) in cohorts with the UMNO/BN Federal Government and UMNO controlled Parliament has carried gerrymandering and mal-apportionment to such an absurd degree that UMNO/BN can win simple majority with just 15.4% of the total vote.

This is why Malaysians must participate in BERSIH 3.0 to demand for free and fair election, clean electoral roll, reforms before the 13th General Election and the resignation of the EC.

Read rest of The mother of all electoral abuses courtesy of Malaysiakini below:

The mother of all electoral abuses

Lim Hong Hai
10:09AM Dec 3, 2011

COMMENT I refer to the Malaysiakini report, ‘A retiree exposes gerrymandering in Sabah', and applaud Ng Chak Ngoon for his contribution, especially his graph on the unequal numbers of voters among electoral constituencies.
The delineation of constituencies has long been considered unfair because of two practices that are generally regarded as electoral abuses, namely mal-apportionment and gerrymandering.
Both these practices can have important effects under the first-past-the-post electoral system, which we use in Malaysia.

What Ng has so graphically exposed (chart below) is mal-apportionment or inequality among constituency electorates, rather than gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the drawing of constituency boundaries for partisan advantage and it can be done even in the absence of mal-apportionment.

Starting with the first constituency revision in 1974, various scholars have noted signs of gerrymandering but the more important source of unfairness in electoral constituencies is mal-apportionment.
The question now is: what can be done to reduce mal-apportionment and gerrymandering in constituency delineation? Three things seem important.
Reform the EC
First, strengthen the independence of the Election Commission (EC), the delineator at first instance. This can be done mainly by improving the process of appointing commission members, just as we have recently done with respect to judges.
The EC should also use its existing constitutional power to appoint its main administrative officials instead of totally relying on federal civil servants.
Second, the EC should report its recommendations on revised constituencies directly to Parliament for approval.
At present, the EC reports to the prime minister, who can then make changes to the commission's recommendations before tabling them in Parliament, and also thereafter, in order to secure their approval by Parliament.
This procedure does not inspire confidence that constituencies will be fairly delineated. An added measure is to require more than the present simple majority (in effect, the support of the ruling party alone) in Parliament for the approval of revised constituencies.
For example, such changes should require concurrent majorities by government and opposition or at least a two-thirds majority of Parliament.
Third, restore the clear numerical limits to mal-apportionment that have been removed from the federal constitution. Some background is useful for understanding the suggested measures.
To safeguard the fundamental principle of approximately equal electorates among constituencies, differences in constituency electorates were limited to 15 percent above or below the average constituency electorate at the time of Merdeka.
No more limits
These clear numerical limits were relaxed in 1962 and then removed in 1973 by constitutional amendments: the federal constitution now allows, rather imprecisely, "a measure of weightage" in favour of rural constituencies.
With clear limits removed, rural weightage has been liberally applied by the EC, even though communications and other disadvantages of rural areas that form the justification for rural weightage have undoubtedly and significantly declined since Merdeka.
Indeed, constituency electorates are now so unequal as to make one wonder whether the fundamental requirement of approximate equality is still being complied with.
For peninsular Malaysia, therefore, it is not unreasonable to restore the limits to mal-apportionment that existed at the time of Merdeka, that is, 15 percent above or below the average constituency electorate.
Conditions in Sabah and Sarawak would justify wider limits than those for peninsular Malaysia. We may restore the limits that were in force when Malaysia was formed.
Those limits allow the largest constituency to have twice the number of electors as the smallest constituency, this is, one-third or 33 percent above or below the average constituency in each state.
This would still represent a considerable reduction from present levels of mal-apportionment in the two states.
Largely, because of mal-apportionment, the practice of constituency delineation is the major cause of unfairness in our electoral system. It causes more unfairness than deficiencies in voter registration and campaign rules.
Indeed, correcting unfairness in constituency delineation is the acid test for the parliamentary select committee on electoral reform and the government.

---

LIM HONG HAI is a political scientist with Universiti Sains Malaysia. Here is a more detailed examination of the Malaysian electoral system in Lim's essay, ‘Electoral Politics in Malaysia: ‘Managing' Elections in a Plural Society'.

EC Chief Abdul Aziz will preside over the dirtiest election ever

========================
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The Election Commission Chief Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof should be held responsible for the shocking amendments to the Election Offenses Act.

He made a fool of himself by declaring that Malaysia's Electoral Roll is the cleanest in the world but almost immediately, a secretly captured video showed EC officials conspiring with an UMNO leader's son and the NRD (National Registration Department) to commit gerrymandering in Malacca.

BERSIH 3.0 led by Ambiga is demanding he and the rest of EC resign.

Malaysians, please let us all work together to help makes that happen by attending BERSIH 3.0 Jom Duduk Bantah this coming April 28 at Dataran Merdeka.

Malaysians must participate in BERSIH 3.0

I was at the first BERSIH protest in 2007. I missed BERSIH 2.0 because of an impending trip to Google Campus in Mountainview, California. Come April 28 baring unforseen circumstances, I will be at BERSIH 3.0 to help put pressure to put further pressure on the EC and the federal government for reforms and clean and fair election.

And Malaysians must join us. Why? Because the EC (Election Commission) and the UMNO/BN federal government will never willingly give us a really free and fair election and the 13^th General Election will as expected be the dirtiest election in history.

They have rammed through the amendments of the Election Offences Act, 1954 together with another 7 bills and have thus resulted in monitoring and prevention of electoral fraud very very difficult if not impossible.

What are those changes?

1. cannot establish identity of voter anywhere in constituency, 5k fine or jail
2. no barung agent (monitoring agents) at registration booth
3. polling and counting agents only allowed at time stipulated by EC
4. deleted provision for all printed documents to have printer & publisher name & address




Malaysians Bangkit (Malaysians Arise)!!!

UMNO NRD EC electoral fraud caught on video?

DAP Ayer Keroh ADUN Khoo Poay Tiong has revealed a secretly taped video clip purportly showing an UMNO leader's son, NRD (National Registration Dept) and EC (Election Commission) officials conspiring to pursuade university students to change their addresses and to transfer their voting place to the Bukit Katil parliamentary constituency which is a marginal seat.

These images captured from the video clip could be their photos:

Face of UMNO leader son?

Face of NRD or EC official?

Here is the video clip:

Selangor made it possible to report dubious voters in electoral roll

Malaysians need to pay RM50 in order to report a single voter to the EC (Election Commission). This will make it very taxing on the wallet for those individuals or groups to report a long list of dubious voters, and there are reports of very numerous dubious voters.

Batang Kali constituency experienced a 40% increase in voters in the electoral roll. Even setting aside your distrust of EC and UMNO/BN, can you believe that it is via genuine registration of genuine and not phantom voters?

Read for yourself to see how serious about SSG (Selangor State Government) about striving for a clean electoral below in the article Selangor to pump RM5mil into war on dubious voters courtesy of Malaysiakini:

Selangor to pump RM5mil into war on dubious voters

Leven Woon
6:49PM Apr 19, 2012

The Selangor government will launch a "Selangorku Bersih" programme involving state civil servants and village heads to ensure that the electoral roll in the state is clean and in order.
Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim told the media after a meeting with the Election Commission that the programme would be a "measure from the state to help EC to clean up its electoral roll in Selangor".
Khalid said the state would use funds for this from the RM5 million grant set aside under the Geran Selangorku scheme to enable any individual or party to raise objections on dubious voters in the electoral roll.
Khalid, Selangor assembly speaker Teng Chang Khim and a delegation of Selangor exco members were at the EC headquarters in Putrajaya today for a briefing by the commission and to discuss issues pertaining to the movement of voters' polling stations without their knowledge.

Pakatan Rakyat had claimed that as of December 2011, there has been a sudden rise in the number of voters in the state, amounting to about half a million individuals or 35 percent of Selangor voters.
Coalition supremo Anwar Ibrahim had said Selangor will not go for its state-level polls until the matter is resolved.
When asked about this today, Khalid said he did not raise the matter to the EC today because it is beyond EC’s jurisdiction to decide when the state is to hold an election.
Briefing reaffirms existence of voter spike
Meanwhile, Selangor senior exco member Teresa Kok said that the EC’s briefing has reaffirmed the existence of a spike in dubious voters.
“In Batang Kali (state) constituency alone, there is a 40 percent spike of new voters since 2008, making the total number of voters to 39,928 now.
“But Batang Kali is a semi-rural constituency, where  did the voters come from?” she said.
She added that the neighbouring Kuala Kubu Baru state constituency had not recorded such a significant increase.
Besides Batang Kali, Bukit Lanjan has also recorded a 34 percent increase in voters, followed by Paya Jaras with 31 percent.
Asked about the claim that a large number of East Malaysians have registered themselves as voters in Selangor, Khalid said the EC has given the explanation that it is done according to procedure.
“We were told that eligible voters can register to vote in Selangor. The validity is determined upon application for registration,” he said.
Khalid said he tried to press for exact figures on  the matter, but was told it is being tabulated.
“The EC said the figures are still being tabulated because there is a surge of voters.
“It said that on March 30 alone, 5,000 people were registered to vote in Selangor,” he said.
On his own voting status, Khalid said he has applied to move his voting constituency from  Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur to Ijok, Selangor.
Khalid also dismissed the theory by an Umno blogger that being a KL voter would disqualify him from contesting a state seat if he fails to change his voting constituency, saying that the criteria examined is the address on the identity card.
When asked about the MCA’s accusations that Selangor deferment of its elections is a stunt to siphon its money to campaign activities elsewhere, Khalid declined to comment.
Exco member Halimah Ali, who was standing beside Khalid, then quickly went to his defence, quipping  that “even the selangor exco has found it hard to get a cent from the government”.

Election Commission conducting massive fraud?

Anwar Ibrahim today exposed what he claimed to be the method which the Election Commission of Malaysia conducts "massive fraud" in manipulating the voters roll by giving an example.

Anwar said this was how they register an existing voter in another constituency by using the same identity card number but adds a forward slash / to the end of the IC number.

Anwar furnished a printout of a voter, Zarina binti Abu Tausi, IC. No. 81100101536 registered in the polling district Desa Rahmat in Johor.

The printout showed Zarina also registered in polling distric of Seri Mahkota in Pahang but with IC No. 811001015036/ which is the same number as above except with that forward slash / at the end of the IC number.

I did a search myself at EC's Electoral Roll Checking and verified that what Anwar claimed is correct.

Below is the screen shot of what I found and you can do the check yourself over at EC's Electoral Roll Checking. I did the check on Thursday 22 March 2011 at 3pm. If there are no changes, you should find the same result:

Jphn R Malott says EC arguments seriously flawed

Why EC's arguments are seriously flawed

John R Malott
Aug 24, 11
7:53am

10 friends can read this story for free

COMMENT There has been much informed discussion in Malaysia over the past two months about electoral reform, with thoughtful proposals from reformers and counter-statements by the government.
In this article, the first of two, I take a look at some of the proposals that have been made and compare Malaysia's situation to that of other countries.
Lowering voting age

From an international perspective, Malaysia's 21 year age requirement is out of step with the rest of the world.
Wikipedia lists the voting ages in almost 240 countries and territories around the world, and overwhelmingly the predominant voting age is 18. Malaysia is one of only 12 countries where a voter must be 21.
Let's look at Malaysia's Asian neighbours. You need be only 18 to vote in Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
In Indonesia and East Timor, it is 17; in South Korea, 19; and in Japan and Taiwan, 20. Together with Singapore, Malaysia is the only country in Asia to set the voting age at 21.
Let's also take a look at other nations in the Commonwealth, whose governmental structures and constitutions have all been influenced heavily by the British.
The voting age is 18 in Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Canada, Ghana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. Once again, Malaysia is an outlier.
In Malaysia, when citizens turn 18, they have the legal right to get married, have consensual sex, sign contracts, and buy alcohol and tobacco. They can leave school and work when they are 16, and they can drive when they are 17.
They do not, however, have the right to vote until they are 21. Why does this age gap exist?
Malaysia's age limit clearly is out of step with the rest of the world and also is inconsistent with the legal rights it grants its citizens at an earlier age, from marriage through employment.
Extending the campaign period
Bersih 2.0 advocates extending the campaign period to 21 days, but the Elections Commission is opposed to it. EC deputy chief Wan Ahmad Wan Omar says that a shorter period is sufficient for a nation of Malaysia's size and technological sophistication.
However, a number of Malaysian advocates of electoral reform have pointed out that in years past, Malaysia's election campaigns extended beyond 21 days.
Let's take a look at Wan Ahmad's justification for a short campaign and examine the campaign periods in other Commonwealth countries, with which Malaysia shares a political heritage.
The 2010 Australian elections were announced on July 17, and the polls were held five weeks later, on Aug 21.
Using Wan Ahmad's logic, Australia needs a longer campaign period because it is a big country. So let's look at some smaller-sized places, which also are technologically sophisticated.
The 2010 elections in the United Kingdom were announced on April 12 and held on May 6. That is a campaign period of 24 days.
This year's parliamentary elections in New Zealand were announced on Feb 2, but they will not be held until Nov 26, almost 10 months later!
What about Singapore, a nation that is only 582 sq km in area, just 0.2% of Malaysia's size? Their Parliament was dissolved on April 19 of this year, and the elections were held on May 7, which was 20 days later.
Wan Ahmad argues that the length of a campaign period is correlated to a country's size and sophistication, but as the examples of the UK, New Zealand, and Singapore show, the argument doesn't hold water.
Finally, while Malaysia's land area is smaller than other India or Australia, the physical separation of the nation into its eastern and western halves has an impact on national election campaigns. The flying distance between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu is 1,624 km.
That is just 42km short of the distance between Bombay and Calcutta, and 123km less than the distance between New Delhi and Chennai. So for political leaders who need to criss-cross the country, the length of the campaign is important.
Using indelible ink
Bersih 2.0 advocates the use of indelible ink, which has proven to be a low-tech but effective method to prevent electoral fraud. EC deputy chief Wan Ahmad has made a number of points in opposition.
First, Wan Ahmad claims that Malaysia's Constitution would need to be amended, because the government cannot deny a registered voter his or her right to vote. This is incredibly perverse logic.
The purpose of indelible ink is not to prevent someone from voting; it is to prevent someone from voting twice, fraudulently and illegally. It is a crime-prevention and not a vote-prevention measure. Furthermore, when the government imported indelible ink for the 2008 elections, no one claimed then that the Constitution needed to be amended.
Wan Ahmad's second argument is chauvinistic. He says that indelible ink is for poorer, less sophisticated countries like India and Indonesia. Sophisticated countries like Malaysia deserve a more high-tech system like biometrics.
But then, in the same breath, he says that voters in the countryside are not sophisticated, and that they could be duped by people who dip their fingers in ink before they vote. So which is it - are Malaysians sophisticated or not?
Indelible ink has been in use in Indian elections since 1952, and there have been no accusations of fraud. The peasantry have not been duped. True, there have been problems in the Philippines because they used a lower quality ink that can be removed easily.

But Indian ink - which is what the Malaysian government imported in 2008 - stays on the skin for 72 hours and cannot be removed.
The irony is that many Malaysians believe that the proposed high-tech biometric system will lead to more fraud and more problems, not less. The equipment and database will be under the control of the government. Some blog reports say that the Malaysian companies that provide this kind of equipment have close political and family connections to government leaders.
Furthermore, as we all know, any computer system and database is only as good as the information that we put into it. High-tech systems are also prone to crash.
Can Malaysia deploy biometric equipment to thousands of polling places across the country, train personnel, and ensure both electricity and Internet connectivity, especially in the rural areas? A low-tech solution - indelible ink - seems easier, cheaper, and more reliable.
Permitting foreign observers
When Wan Ahmad was asked last July whether Malaysia would invite foreign groups to observe the country's next elections, the EC deputy chief became emotional and nationalistic: “Why do we need foreigners... commenting on our election system? They don't know our election laws. They don't understand our values.”
It is a matter of pride, he said. Malaysians would be hurt by the negative comments of foreign observers. “They are foreigners. Who are they? Why do we need Germans commenting on our election system?”
The irony is that he made these comments just as his boss, Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, was in Thailand on a five-day trip with four other Malaysian election commissioners to observe the Thai elections. The Malaysian group had been invited by the Thai Election Commission, along with 11 other countries.
As in Malaysia, voters in Thailand are divided on the question whether their elections are free and fair. An Asia Foundation survey in 2009 found a split - 47% of those Thai surveyed said their elections are free and fair, while 48% disagreed.
But when asked whether the presence of election observers would give them more confidence that the results of the elections were fair, 62% said yes. Only 34% said that it would not.
From that point of view, it is in the government's interest to invite both domestic and foreign groups to observe the next elections. The heavy-handed government crackdown last July 9 against the Bersih rally certainly got the world's attention and raised international concern that all might not be as it seems in Malaysia.
The government says that elections are free and fair. The world needs to be assured about the strength and integrity of Malaysia's democracy. Inviting foreign observers is not an issue of national pride; it is a question of national interest.

JOHN R MALOTT was the US Ambassador to Malaysia, 1995-1998, and continues to follow developments in that country closely.

BERSIH 2.0 Public Forum with Election Commission

Come and join us for the Bersih 2.0 Public Forum with Election Commission.

Title: Moving Forward with Electoral Reforms
Panelist:
Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (Deputy Chairperson of Election Commission (SPR))
Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan (Chairperson of Coalition of Clean and Fair Election Steering Committee (Bersih 2.0))
Jasmine Ng (representative of Growing Emerging Leaders (GEL))

Moderator:
Zaid Kamaruddin (Bersih 2.0 Steering Committee)

Date: 21 February 2011 (Monday)
Time: 8.00 pm –10.30 pm

Venue:
Bilik Gerakan
First Floor,
Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya,
Jalan Yong Shook Lin,
46675 Petaling Jaya.
Selango

Location map:Pejabat MBPJ Jalan Yong Shook Lin

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Check your voter registration status: Why it is very important

Please do a quick check to see whether anyone has deleted your name from the list of eligible voters or transferred you to elsewhere like for example Timbukto. There have been reports of registered voters no longer on the list, transferred and even eligible voters who said they have never register to vote but found their name in the list of eligible voters. The Malaysian Election Commission cannot be trusted to be impartial as they should be.

So please to to either:
http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/daftarj/daftarbi.aspx (English)
or
http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/daftarj/daftarbi.aspx (Bahasa Malaysia)

Just key in your I/C No. and you should see your voter status. If the result is "record not found", do go to the nearest Post Office to get yourself registered. It will take only a few minutes.

PASS THIS AROUND TO ALL OVER THE GLOBE AND ENSURE THAT THE 'GREATEST CHANGE' WILL TAKE PLACE VERY SOON.

CHEERS TO ALL.




Please remember, by 7th level this email will reach 1 million people and that is only when each of us forward it to 10 people.


Please do it for do sake of our future. This is a good deed that all Malaysians MUST do. It is our duty to save our nation.

You are going to save 28 million people.


Please do so.


General Election

We all know that once in a few years we are given the opportunity to vote.
Why vote? It has no effect on the outcome.

One vote alone may not count but many votes together becomes a voice to be reckoned with. Let your voice be heard.

This election, more so than others is a vital election because we are at a cross roads. If we get it right we will prosper; if we get it wrong, we will suffer as we have seen in our neighboring countries.

To help you decide please ponder these issues:

Do you think our politicians in power are corrupt?
Do you think our civil service is corrupt?
Do you think they are incompetent?
Do you think the people in power sets themselves above the law?
Do you think our leadership has lost its way?
Do you think we are getting more & more divided by race & religion?
Do you think we have a questionable justice system?
Do you think that they are wasting our wealth?
Do you think our children will suffer more?
Do you want to see change?

If you say yes to 3 or more of these issues, don't you think we need change? YOU CAN MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN!!!

Just send this to 10 other relatives or friends and ask them to do the sameto 10 of their friends and so on. By so doing we are enlisting the power of multilevel marketing. Yes the math works and it is awesome. By the 7th level this message would reach 1,000,000 people. Yes we can make our vote count! Better believe it!! We owe it to ourselves and to our children and to their children.

Malaysia Boleh! make it happen for ours and our children's future.

BERSIH HANDING MEMORANDUM TO THE ELECTION

INVITATION TO ATTEND BERSIH HANDING MEMORANDUM TO THE ELECTION
COMMISSION ON 9 JULY 2010

On Friday, 9 July 2010, BERSIH and its members will be handing over a
memorandum to the Election Commission at Putrajaya. We invite all
civil society members and organisations to come for this event and be
with us to call for free and fair elections. A memorandum is being
drafted and will be circulated by today.

The details are as follows:

Date: 9 July 2010 (Friday)
Time: 10.30 - 11.30 a.m.
Venue:
Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Malaysia
ARAS 4 - 5, BLOK C7 KOMPLEKS C
PUSAT PENTADBIRAN KERAJAAN PERSEKUTUAN
62690 PUTRAJAYA
Tel: 03-8885 6500 | Faks: 03-8888 9117

Please feel free to pass on this and do bring your friends to the
handing over of the memorandum to EC.

warm regards,
Maria Abdullah
Empower
f/b BERSIH

--
Maria Chin Abdullah
Executive Director
EMPOWER
13 Lorong 4/48E
46050 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 603 77844977
Fax: 603 77844978
Email: empower05 (at} gmail [dot) com

Location map PUSAT PENTADBIRAN KERAJAAN PERSEKUTUAN BLOK C7 KOMPLEKS C 62690 PUTRAJAYA

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