Gurdial slams AG for suggesting tribunal a 'stunt'

VIDEO | 3:53 mins

BERSIH TRIBUNAL Bersih People's Tribunal conducting officer Gurdial Singh Nijar slammed attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail yesterday for dismissing the public probe into electoral irregularities as a publicity stunt.

"For the attorney-general to suggest that the People's Tribunal is a publicity stunt is a sad reflection of the kind of pronouncements that we are subjected to and have to bear to read on an almost daily basis.

"He does his own office a disservice by his public display of a complete ignorance of people's tribunals," he told the five-member panel in his concluding remarks.

Gani was reported on Sept 19 to have said that the tribunal has no legal standing and described the presence of two foreigners on the panel as "meddling" in Malaysia's affairs.

Gurdial (left) pointed out that similar tribunals had been formed previously, such as former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal and the Brussels-based Russell-Sartre Tribunal to address grievances that no one else would hear.

He said the KL War Crimes Tribunal was formed following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, whereas the Russell-Sartre Tribunal dealt with alleged war crimes in the Vietnam War and later heard on other issues as well.

"Somebody had to do something; that is the point of a people's tribunal. It fills a need that is initiated by society at large - sometimes nationally, sometimes globally," he said.

Meanwhile, the panel's chairperson Yash Pal Ghai apparently agreed with Gurdial and related the experiences of his home country Kenya following its 2007 presidential election.

The constitutional law professor said violence following the election and alleged fraud brought the country to the brink of civil war until former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and a team of prominent Africans helped broker a peace deal.

Among others, it also recommended the formation of several commissions to deal with the aftermath of the ethnic violence, where foreigners were amongst its members.

"Generally, we felt that with these people in the commissions, there would be some justice and impartiality, and I think that enabled us to move forward and to have confidence in these critical processes at that time in our country," he said.

Yash is one of two international members of the panel. The other is Ramlan Surbakti, who is the former Indonesian Election Commission deputy chairperson.

51 witnesses, 78 written testimonies

Earlier today, Gurdial had spent about five hours presenting his final submissions, summarising the oral testimony of 51 witnesses at the tribunal and 78 written testimonies in the form of statutory declarations.

Among others, some of the allegations of electoral irregularities and misconduct include:

• A voter claiming that PKR's party symbol was missing in Ijok ballot papers but had PAS' logo instead, although PKR was contesting there.

• Abuse of government machinery for partisan purposes.

• Allegations of bribery and excessive election campaign spending.

• Excess voter turnout in certain locations in Baram, with the turnout exceeding the number of voters by 500 percent.

• Gerrymandering and malapportionment of constituency boundaries.

• Irregularities in the electoral roll.

• The rejection of almost all election petitions from Pakatan Rakyat and BN candidates on technical grounds.

Gurdial said he had invited all stakeholders to testify at the trial, but the attorney-general, Election Commission (EC), the police and BN had declined the invitation.

He submitted that the election petitions of BN candidates and reports by the EC should be brought to the tribunal instead and urged the panel to give them fair consideration.

Following the five-day hearing, the panel has three months to produce a report of its findings, but Yash said the panel may require more time.