PETALING JAYA: Former Bersih 2.0 chief Ambiga Sreenevasan has urged the authorities to ensure that the six Election Commission (EC) members appointed to the body will enjoy public confidence in fulfilling their duties.
Most importantly, she said, they must also be independent of the government of the day.
“Those appointed must be trusted to act according to the law and the Federal Constitution,” said Ambiga who is also a prominent lawyer.
She was responding to reports of vacancies in the EC following the decision by several members to leave office before the expiry of their terms.
The latest to do so was K Bala Singam, who shortened his term of office two days ago effective Jan 1.
On Oct 18, deputy chairman Othman Mahmood and four others – Md Yusop Mansur, Abdul Aziz Khalidin, Sulaiman Narawi and Leo Chong Cheong – also decided to cut short their tenures effective Jan 1.
EC chairman Azhar Harun said this was done in accordance with Article 114 of the Federal Constitution.
All of them have sent letters to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong informing him of their early departure.
Like judges, EC members enjoy security of tenure as they are appointed by the Agong after consultation with the Conference of Rulers.
It was earlier reported that Putrajaya had initiated a tribunal to investigate the six EC members appointed by the previous administration for alleged misconduct.
In May, Bersih urged the government to sack the EC commissioners and called for a tribunal to pave the way for the appointment of reform-minded commissioners.
“This is important as some reform measures such as cleaning up the existing electoral rolls, the management of elections and campaigning rules do not need further study,” Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari, who was Bersih chairman at the time, told FMT.
On June 13, the EC announced that Mohd Hashim Abdullah’s tenure as EC chairman had been shortened. He was replaced by Azhar two months later.
Ambiga said like superior court judges, the appointments of EC members was based on the Federal Constitution.
“So EC members must have the stature of judges,” she said, adding that in the past, all nominees came from the ranks of retired civil servants.
She also said Azhar’s appointment was a promising start as he was able to carry out his duties to the satisfaction of the public. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.