PUBLIC HEARING: Dr Ongkili (second left) listening attentively to the input brought up by participants at the PSC hearing for recommendations to be included in its report to Parliament.
KUCHING: The Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) has called for the next delineation exercise to be more transparent by displaying constituency maps and electoral rolls to avoid accusations of gerrymandering of constituencies.
Association president Sidi Munan suggested that to reduce manipulations the maps and the electoral rolls showing the proposed demarcations of constituencies should be on display (including in the longhouses) for the public to suggest amendments/additions thereto for at least six months.
“The case in point is the parliamentary constituency of Sibu where the interests of the Ibans are not sufficiently catered for. There are several other constituencies having similar problems,” alleged Sidi in a press release to The Borneo Post yesterday.
The statement was based on his recent delivery of the association’s memorandum and recommendation for inclusion in the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) report on electoral reforms to Parliament.
The public hearing which took place at Wisma Bapa Malaysia on Dec 8 and 9 was chaired by PSC chairman Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili who is also Science, Innovation and Technology Minister.
Suggesting that the electoral rolls be in the old format, Sidi said if the names of all voters from each longhouse or village were to be in one roll updating would be easier to do, whereby the names of deceased voters could be deleted from time to time and names of new voters could be added without going through the rigmarole of the demands of the present system.
He added that based on the current system, application forms must be handed back to the Election Commission (EC) to be further checked and verified for authenticity.
On this, he explained that the process has another defect as simple spelling mistakes in names of applicants or places have been made grounds for rejection of right to vote, saying they might be perfectly eligible Malaysians but excluded due to mere technicality.
Sidi proposed that the answer to such woes would be the implementation of automatic voter registration and compulsory voting.
“There is no reason why automatic registration cannot be introduced into the Malaysian electoral system. Any Malaysian citizen upon reaching the voting age (now 21 years) shall be deemed to be a registered
voter for purpose of the election law.
“It is more democratic and in line with the universal suffrage. It will save a lot of tax payers’ money and time incurred by the EC in registering voters on a voluntary basis. Under this system, according to estimation by the commission itself, there are about four million Malaysians who are potential voters but
are not registered,” he pointed out.
Of the figure, Sidi said, some 40,000 were Sarawakians, while reminding that the number was growing bigger by the day as more and more Malaysians attained the age of 21 years each year.
As for compulsory voting, he believes that this would increase the percentage of turnouts at polling stations and that of votes cast during each election as people will feel obliged to vote and elect legislators of their choice.
On other matters, Sadia supports and endorses suggestions by the PSC to audit the existing electoral rolls immediately because the next general election must be held before the present tenure of government expires in March 2013.
“The association also supports and endorses PSC’s recommendation that a Royal Commission of Enquiry be formed to look into the countless allegations of illegal immigrants afforded voting rights in Sabah and possibly occurring in Sarawak too.”
Sidi also suggested the re-introduction of local government elections which were first introduced by the Colonial Government if Sarawak were to become a fully democratic state.
In addition, he also proposed that the law governing the maximum expenditure of a candidate in an election should be strictly enforced to allow professional auditors look into the candidate’s expenditure to detect any violation.
“It is a considered opinion that in order for Malaysia to be classified as a full-fledged democratic country, the electoral system must be overhauled with the inclusion of the above proposals and the endorsement of proposals relating to the formation of the Royal Commission of Enquiry to find out the truth.
“Otherwise we will continue to face these allegations of illegal immigrants having rights to vote in Malaysian elections when the millions of eligible Malaysian citizens here and abroad are being deprived of the human rights to vote for the representatives to Parliament of their choice and preference.”