‘A total revamp of EC, NRD needed’

A consumer activist has suggested that only with a total revamp will the parliamentray select committee be taken seriously.

PETALING JAYA: There must be a total revamp of the Election Commission (EC) and the National Registration Department (NRD) if the proposed parliamentary select committee is to be taken seriously.

Consumers’ Association of Subang and Shah Alam, Selangor (Cassa) president, Jacob George, said it was not enough to simply have a select committee to look into polls reform if, at the end of the day, the committee merely made recommendations.

“More has to be done. We need a total revamp. All commissioners in the EC should be asked to resign as their recent statements have shown that they are not independent,” said George.

He said such an exercise to “purge” the system was important if any real change was to be seen in the electoral system.

He added that it must also be done concurrently with the select committee that is expected to be formed soon.

“The committe must not be made up of just politicians but also must include members from the civil society with a track record of not being sympathisers of either BN or Pakatan,” he said.

George also took to task Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who announced the parliamentary committee yesterday, for doing “too little too late”.

George said he hoped the relevant government agencies and ministries would be willing to work on electoral reforms.

“This is a very simplistic answer for the prime minister to come out to say that a select committee will be formed, and perhaps add a couple of opposition leaders for flavour, but will it merely be an exercise in futility?” he asked.

Najib yesterday announced that the bipartisan select committee on electoral reforms will be formed soon. This had followed a memorandum by opposition MPs seeking for an emergency parliamentary sitting to discuss electoral reforms.