As expected, the Cabinet has put the Parliamentary Select Committee on the back-burner, without even discussing it at its weekly meeting on Wednesday, confirming public suspicion that Prime Minister Najib Razak's promise to clean up the electoral system was never sincerely meant.
Neither did the Cabinet deliberate on the five pre-conditions set by Pakatan Rakyat for its participation in the PSC.
"The Cabinet did not discuss them. They are not important," Malaysiakinireported Nazri Aziz, the minister in the Prime Minister's Department as saying.
Mahathir the de-facto PM
The poll reforms panel was announced on Aug 15 as a sop to public unhappiness over Najib's mishandling of the Bersih 2.0 rally for free and fair elections.
The Pakatan, led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, has been in two minds about the PSC, afraid to endorse it as it feared the committee would turn out to be a sham. Yet it wanted to fulfill voters' wishes of getting reforms to finally move.
On Tuesday, Pakatan asked Najib to guarantee five conditions as a sign of his government's commitment and seriousness. Without the guarantees, Pakatan would decline participation in the PSC, which is due to be set up at the next Parliament sitting beginning Oct 3.
Among the 5 conditions was that Najib should decide the date of the next general election in consultation with Pakatan, in order to allow the PSC sufficient time to fulfill its objectives.
However, former Umno president Mahathir Mohamad came out to lambast the Pakatan requests, which pundits said meant that Najib would also reject the requests. At 85, Mahathir is still the most feared power-broker in Umno and some even say he has become the de-facto PM of the country.
“It is the prerogative of the government. If they want to set the date, then form government first. When that happens, will they discuss it with us?” Malaysian Insider reported Mahathir as saying.
The mother of all cheating
However Pakatan leaders retorted that it was just an excuse as the BN never had any intention to clean up the system which has been deliberately skewed to help the BN win and retain power.
"This means that they will continue to cheat. They never were sincere about the PSC. Mark my words, GE-13 will be the scene of the greatest electoral fraud ever," PKR MP for Batu told Malaysia Chronicle.
- Malaysia Chronicle
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