Moving beyond merely cosmetic reforms

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COSMETIC REFORM?: Indelible ink is used during an election in the Philippines. — File photo

THE much-vaunted Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) held public hearings for six months at various places. A study tour of several countries was even organised for the members of the committee to enable them to learn about the way those countries handle their elections.

The result of the representations by various interest groups and deliberations among the panel members is a document containing 22 recommendations. Compiled neatly into a report, these were presented to parliament on March 3 but that report was not discussed, let alone debated, by parliament as a whole. The minority reports were not even entertained by the Speaker.

Important details of those recommendations concerning overdue reforms to the electoral system should have been released immediately to the public. Only snippets of them were grudgingly let out to the media.

The first reaction of many members of the public, especially those avid readers of the print media, was one of disappointment!

Disappointment number 2: All the 22 recommendations were only known to the MPs and government officials, but MPs from Sarawak, except for a couple, did not see fit to let their constituents know the details.

However, there is one consolation: the contents of the report are being studied by the executive arm of government and the Election Commission.

Somehow, practitioners of the media have managed to read bits and pieces of information on the recommendations, including those contained in the minority reports.

We have read or heard about phantom voters appearing on polling day and casting their votes like humans. We have known of live voters once registered, but are now missing from the rolls.

During the hearing held by the PSC in Kuching early this year, a dead voter from Sibu appeared in a white shirt and sat on the right of Bukit Assek assemblyman Wong Ho Leng. Many were eyewitnesses to this apparition inside the same building where I once to earned my living.

Who says miracles do not happen these days?

We have also heard or read about 80,000 cases of 100 voters in the peninsula sharing one residential address. I thought those were only found in the longhouses of Sarawak.

We have heard about Malaysians living, studying or working overseas who want to vote but can’t because the Election Committee cannot make arrangements for them to vote from those countries.

We have also heard about voters who have their polling districts and stations changed without their knowledge.

We have heard about many more stories – too boring to relate here.

All these stories are regarded as having affected the ‘purity’ of the Election Commission.

We are assured, though, that the EC is trying its best to clean up the rolls and update its data every single day. Over 42,000 names with doubtful and dubious particulars are on the rolls. To get rid of them, the EC is being cautious about amending the existing law to allow it to deal with the problem for fear of legal complications.

What’s the problem there?

The Attorney General’s Chambers in KL is full of legal experts and the Bar Council is crawling with lawyers waiting to be consulted. They will first, second, third and fourth opinion, no problem.

What’s the problem, given the will to initiate moves to amend the relevant provisions of the existing election legislation or even proposing new ones to clean up the rolls before the next elections?

Granted, the Election Commission has initiated some changes to the present practice. In fact, some of those changes are not new, for instance, the so-called cooling period of 36 hours after Nomination Day. Before the introduction of the cooling period was adopted, the practice used to be that once the Returning Officer had announced the closing of nominations and the list of contestants read out, no one candidate was allowed to pull out of the race. If he or she did so, his or her name would still appear on the ballot paper.

Whoever introduced the 36-hour cooling off period did not foresee the possibility of that period being used by rival candidates and their respective supporters to strike some shady deal. By this means, money politics was introduced into the system; a candidate can literally sell himself off to the highest bidder. Logically, it is possible to have only one name in a ballot paper. How ridiculous!

I’m happy that the EC is going to do away with this practice and going back to the good old system.

Another thing that’s not new – the use of the indelible ink. It was purchased for some RM2.4 million for the 2008 elections. Where is it now? It is likely that new ink will be used soon and it will come in two colours. We are looking forward to a colourful election.

Confidence in the commission?

The Election Commission survives on the confidence of the electorate. For example, before the members of the commission are appointed, it is mandatory for the Yang Di- Pertuan Agong to have “regard to the importance of securing an Election Commission which enjoys public confidence” [Article 114 (2), Federal Constitution of Malaysia, as at March 5, 2008].

Has anybody heard about this provision having been amended? I haven’t.

The bigger picture

It is incumbent upon the EC to maintain that public confidence always. Many of its problems are administrative in nature and, if there was no interference from the executive at all, then the EC must be given good teeth with which to clean up the registers which are allegedly tainted. That will ensure clean and fair elections. At the same time, the EC must avoid the adverse public perception that may develop into a loss of confidence in its power and authority.

The administrative snags are important but not as vital as the deprivation of voting rights of the citizens of the country – their rights to be registered as voters so that they can exercise their choice of legislators from time to time through the ballot box.

These administrative hurdles are not as important as the loss of voting rights for those Malaysians working or even residing overseas who want to vote in their own country and choose the representatives of their choice.

That’s the bigger picture.

I’m told that one of the 22 recommendations by the PSC tabled in parliament recently was on automatic voter registration. Great news! I hope the government will seriously look into the possibility of introducing this type of registering voters and for good measure it would be wise of them to also legislate compulsory voting and to revisit the local government elections in Sarawak.

The local government elections were abolished in 1981. Bring them back. After all, local government is a state subject as agreed to by the founders of Malaysia in 1963, as one of the safeguards meant for Sarawak and Sabah.

These reforms – automatic voter registration and compulsory voting plus local government elections for Sarawak – would be real and have far reaching impacts on the electoral system. They will go a long way towards saving lots of money for the government in future and for the firm foundation of the parliamentary democracy at the grassroots level, if we are to sustain a viable federation for as long as possible.

National problem of our own creation

From various media reports, one can discern that there has been a growing public concern over the huge number of citizens who have not registered as voters. Under the present registration system, out of the 12.7 million Malaysians who can vote, there are some 3.7 million of them who cannot exercise their rights of full adult suffrage. Of this number, there are 1.1 million Chinese. In Sarawak alone, there are 459,909 Malaysians of voting age who will miss the chance to choose their wakil in parliament because they are not registered voters under the present system.

The Malays in the peninsula have been complaining about the low percentage of Malays who have registered as voters and many intellectuals of that community have even predicted dire consequences for the reduction or even loss of political dominance of their community, if its members continue to neglect to register as voters now.

The concern is so serious that the issue has developed into a national problem – a technical problem really – that may possibly be solved by the automatic voter registration and compulsory voting. By the stroke of a pen, if there is a political will.

Sorry to flog the dead horse that really refuses to die. I have begun to believe in the saying that constant “dripping wears away the hardest stone” when it comes to banging on some worthy cause like giving voting rights to its citizens.

In my humble opinion, the bold measures suggested above would constitute important reforms; with due respect, many of the present reforms over which we have been haggling for the past six months are cosmetic in comparison.