As much as fake news, Malaysians should fear fake polls

MP SPEAKS | I welcome the late announcement by the Election Commission chairperson Mohd Hashim Abdullah that the Election Commission will invite international election observers and appoint local NGO representatives as observers for the 14th general election which will be held about a hundred days from now.

Several Umno cabinet ministers who opposed inviting international observers for GE14, in the wake of the boast by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak that there would be no “cheating” in the general election, were clearly shooting Umno-BN in the foot – made worse by their belated discovery that Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad had agreed to Commonwealth observers to the 1990 general election.

This is what I said in my media statement back in 1990 on my hour-long meeting with Mahathir in the Prime Minister’s Office a day earlier on international observers for the polls.

“To my suggestion that the Commonwealth Observer Mission should not have any monopoly of observing the general elections, and that any international group which wants to send an observer mission should be free to do so, Mahathir said he had no objections to their coming.”

Are Najib (photo) and the EC prepared to adopt an open-minded position similar to Mahathir in 1990 – especially as it is going to the most crucial polls in Malaysian history, as it will decide whether there would be a change of federal government for the first time in 61 years?

Up to now, the EC has adopted a narrow and restricted position on the invitation of international observers for GE14 – that it be confined to foreign election observer groups which had invited the commission previously.

This is clearly unacceptable.

The EC should conduct deep soul-searching to determine why it has fallen so abysmally from a world-class and credible institution when the country achieved independence six decades ago, to the lowly position it holds today.

Malaysia’s ranking on the Electoral Integrity Index is the appalling position of 142 out of 158 countries, lower than Indonesia ranked No 68, Singapore ranked 94, and Philippines ranked 101.

There is an urgent need to legitimise and improve both the country’s election process and the EC’s credibility, independence and professionalism.

This is why the EC should not shirk its primary constitutional duty to ensure that short of a system of automatic registration of qualified voters, the highest percentage possible of eligible voters are registered on the electoral roll to entitle them to exercise their constitutional role to vote in the GE14.

But having over three million eligible voters not yet registered on the electoral roll when polls are so soon is really scandalous, and reflects poorly on the efficiency, competence, professionalism and dedication of the EC.

As of the third quarter of last year, 14.8 million Malaysians are registered as voters but more than three million Malaysians who are over 21 years old have not registered.

I am surprised that the Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed (photo) objected to my proposal that the EC ensure that two weeks before polling day, qualified voters could register as voters.

Twenty years ago I had pointed out in Parliament that countries like New Zealand can have voter registration systems which allow qualified voters to register on the eve of polling day and cast their vote the next day.

This is an example of power going to the head which changes a person’s perceptions and character, as I have no doubt that Nur Jazlan would have fully agreed with my proposal if he was still a backbencher or chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee.

To reestablish its world-class position in terms of credibility, authority and professionalism, I have proposed the establishment of a bipartisan Parliamentary Select Committee on the EC’s 2018 constituency redelineation proposals, which should conduct national hearings in the Peninsular states, and to submit its redelineation report to Parliament within a month, before any voting on it.

Does the EC agree with the proposal for a bipartisan Parliamentary Select Committee on the its constituency redelineation recommendations?

In this era, Malaysians must beware not only of fake news, but also fake elections.

---

LIM KIT SIANG is DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Gelang Patah.- Mkini