Anwar's one shot at reforming EC

 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is a busy man.

When the nation was burning, literally, with Molotov cocktails thrown at KK Mart outlets following Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh’s call to boycott the convenience stores, he refused to get involved.

But one thing he has no choice but to get involved in is the appointment of a new chairperson for the Election Commission (EC) following the retirement of Abdul Ghani Salleh.

The stakes are high.

Not only does the EC chairperson have wide powers and discretion to lead the most important institution in charge of elections in the country (which could either facilitate or stop electoral reforms), but the EC chairperson will also take on the unprecedented responsibility of addressing the re-delineation of electoral boundaries after the implementation of Undi18 and separately, automatic voter registration (AVR).

Both Undi18 and AVR have added 6.23 million new voters to the electoral roll in the 15th general election, and many more by GE16. This exacerbates malapportionment in Malaysia (see table) and is a violation of the Federal Constitution’s 13th Schedule, which states that all votes should be “approximately equal”.

One person, one vote, one value is a fundamental principle of democracy. But it is also a lie, at least in Malaysia.

How can we say “one person, one vote” and “all votes matter equally” when one vote in the Bangi constituency has only one-fifth value compared to one vote in the Sabak Bernam constituency? How about the value of one voter in Petaling Jaya compared to one voter in Maran?

The inequality of votes is reflected in the unequal distribution of funds to lawmakers. For example, if each MP receives RM100,000 to serve their constituency, each voter in Tebrau receives only 0.45 cents compared to RM2 each in Labis.

The new EC chairperson could either lead the institution to resolve the inequality of voting power or do nothing to mitigate it like his/her predecessors.

Fill vacancy soon

Anwar must fill the vacancy soon. This is the prime minister’s one-shot to reform the institution. If he appoints a credible, competent and reform-minded person to lead the EC, electoral reforms could possibly happen.

If the prime minister appoints yet another non-reformist candidate, he would have betrayed many supporters, especially Pakatan Harapan supporters in urban and semi-urban constituencies who are suffering from malapportionment.

All MPs in those constituencies must speak up for their constituents (reducing their vote value) and themselves (serving double, triple or more the electorate size of other MPs).

Crucially, not reforming the electoral system is a stab in the back for youth voters who are concentrated in those under-represented constituencies. By appointing a chairperson who is not interested in pursuing reforms, Anwar forsakes the Undi18 generation voters by depriving them of equal voting power.

The prime minister claims the candidate has been identified and he will follow “due process” in the appointment. Which due process, prime minister?

There are two versions: (a) the status quo, which is a process the deputy chairperson Azmi Sharom slammed as “shrouded in secrecy” and which your coalition has criticised and pledged to reform, or (b) a reformed process which you promised in your election manifesto to include parliamentary vetting?

The appointments of two EC commissioners under the coalition government - Sapdin Ibrahim and Lee Bee Phang - were done without going through Parliament, and this goes against both Harapan and BN’s election manifestos.

This promise must not be broken for the third time because this is the most important position in the institution, the top role, the one person who can make or break reform efforts at the institution.

If Anwar fails to plan for electoral reform, he is planning to fail at electoral reform. If he can’t get a reformist candidate to fill up the EC chairperson position, forget about reforming the EC.

If the EC is led by a person not interested in reform, then forget about change. If this is so, the PM and Harapan should abandon the Reformasi slogan.

Their new slogan for the GE16 campaign should be “Status quo-masi! Vote for us, nothing will change!” - Mkini

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OOI KOK HIN is a political sociologist who dabbles in civil society.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.