SAY NO TO THE “SAVE RASHID” AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
December 11th, 2007 | Posted in Press Release, Resource Centre | |
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BERSIH Memorandum to the Parliament of Malaysia and All Its Members
11 December 2007
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) urges the Parliament of Malaysia, which consists of His Majesty the Yang diPertuan Agong, Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara to reject the proposed bill to amend Article 114 of the Federal Constitution, which will effect in Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman’s extension as the Election Commission (EC) Chairperson up to one-and-a-half years.
BERSIH stresses that Tan Sri Abdul Rashid, whose service is continuously marred with recurring electoral frauds and manipulations, is not fit for the job and must go immediately. All parliamentarians must therefore vote against this Constitutional Amendment Bill so obviously being rushed through to keep him the job is an insult to both the Constitution and Parliament.
1. In principle, BERSIH has no objection to the extension of the retirement age from 65 to 66 years for all members of the EC. The removal of an EC is constitutionally stipulated to be done in the same manner as a Federal Court judge, whose retirement age has been increased from 65 to 66 years, such synchronization is not objectionable.
2. The Constitutional Bill, if passed through both chambers of the Parliament and consented by HM the Yang diPertuan Agong by this December 31, will however become a back-door extension for Tan Sri Abdul Rashid whose birthday falls on the same day. In other words, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid has to retire if Article 114 of the Federal Constitution is not amended in time. On the other hand, if the amendment is passed, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid may stay on effectively till June 2009 with the conventional half-year extension after retirement. In other words, this will ensure that Tan Sri Abdul Rashid oversees the next elections.
3. The Constitutional Bill, hastily tabled for first reading in Dewan Rakyat on November 20, 2007 and scheduled for second reading on December 11, 2007, is therefore a “Save Rashid” Amendment. Such “Save Rashid” Amendment, by reducing the Federal Constitution to a tool to serve the interests of one individual especially one unfit for the job, is an insult and assault to constitutional democracy.
4. Article 114(2) stipulates “the importance of securing an Election Commission which enjoys public confidence”, which Tan Sri Abdul Rashid has clearly failed. Here is a non-exhaustive list of 10 failures and scandals in the electoral process under his service in and leadership of the EC:
4.1 The electoral rolls is contaminated with the names of the dead, non-citizens, multiple registrations and the under-aged, allowing election outcomes to be determined by phantoms rather than citizens. In 2001, Justice Datuk Muhammad Kamil Awang nullified the election result of Likas state constituency in Sabah on the grounds that the 1998 state electoral roll was illegal as phantom voters, including non-citizens, had cast their votes on polling day.
4.2 The government responded to the Likas verdict by changing the Election Act so that election outcome can no longer be challenged on the grounds of electoral roll validity. All EC wrongdoings are now protected. In a manner amounting to contempt of court, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid attacked Justice Datuk Muhammad Kamil Awang on December 4, 2007, alleging that the judge took it out on the government because he was ‘frustrated with certain things’.
4.3 Voters are transferred from one constituency to another to secure victory for the ruling coalition. In October 2007, EC secretary Datuk Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor blamed some assistant registration officers for cases that happened before 16 July, 2002. If found guilty under the Election Offences Act 1954, those officers shall be liable for imprisonment up to two years, fine up to RM 5,000 or both. However, no names have been disclosed and no police reports lodged.
4.4 Such transfer or implantation of voters continues to happen after 2002. The latest case is the increase of 8,463 voters within three months at Ipoh Barat constituency which the Parliamentary Opposition Leader Mr Lim Kit Siang won with a margin of 9,774 votes in 2004.
4.5 The extent of irregularities and fraudulent registrations, seen particularly in the Ijok by-election on 28 April 2007, is shocking:
• Over 50 dead voters were still on the electoral roll and 12 of them, all of them Malays from the Jaya Setia polling district, rose up from their graves to cast their votes on polling day.
• Three Chinese voters at Pekan Ijok had their votes stolen by impostors, who had turned up earlier at the polling station.
• As many as 23 voters were registered without national identity cards.
• As many as 32 voters aged between 100 and 132 years old were still listed on the electoral rolls.4.6 In the 2004 general elections, the use of three different versions of the electoral roll led to a breakdown and chaos in polling in at least 17 parliamentary constituencies in Selangor and three in Kuala Lumpur. EC then ordered an illegal extension of polling for two extra hours in some of these constituencies. No EC officers have been prosecuted or penalized for the chaos.
4.7 Also in the 2004 general elections, provisional results showed that 98% of the registered voters collected parliamentary ballots in Kuala Terengganu, but 10,254 ballots were not returned. Tan Sri Abdul Rashid offered an absurd explanation that KT voters had the hobby of collecting ballot papers. The final result published on the Gazette saw the reduction of turnout rate to 84% and the missing ballots to 240, with no explanation offered for this changes.
4.8 For years, elections have seen high number of missing ballots in many constituencies. Top on the list for four elections from 1990 and 2004 was the Lumut constituency, which saw the extent of unreturned ballots soaring from 2,763 in 1982 to 8,176 in 1999. Had these missing ballots found their ways to polling stations in other constituencies, they would have overturned outcomes in many marginal seats. Blaming it on the weakness of postal voting registration, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid has failed to end this phenomenon so damaging to the credibility of the EC and electoral process.
4.9 Mal-apportionment and gerrymandering of constituencies have gone from bad to worse with the 2002 constituency re-delineation exercise. In 2004, BN won an unprecedented 91% parliamentary majority with a mere 64% popular votes. This effectively means that one vote for BN was equivalent for 3 votes for DAP, 8 votes for PAS and 26 votes for Keadilan. Tan Sri Abdul Rashid has made a mockery of the “one person, one vote” principle.
4.10 Ultimately, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid is unfit to chair the EC for he lacks the most fundamental quality: the moral courage and the commitment to act independently, guided only by the Constitution and the best interest of Malaysia’s democracy.
In 2003, he conceded that EC’s ability to carry out its task independently has been hampered by the government. In November 2007, he indirectly admitted that the election date was set by the Prime Minister. On December 8, 2007, he inappropriately said that the ruling coalition is the only regime capable of running the country.
5. On the grounds that Tan Sri Abdul Rashid is unfit to chair EC and his retirement on this December 31 in the best interest of the nation, BERSIH urges all parliamentarians to vote against the Constitutional Amendment Bill.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Wei…jangan jd bodoh dan dungu woiii!!! Duk umah lagi baik…..BANGANG!!!!
December 11th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Please stop all these nonsense of BERSIH….you guys are creating havoc for the country just the same as Al-Maunah, Al-Arqam, HINDRAF and other silly Hilbillies whom does not even know and realise how lucky you have been to be born in Malaysia (Peacefully)…Just imagine If you guys were to born in Myanmar hmmmm I think you would only manage to beg for a living because If you don’t really work your bum out.. you will never get to eat…because you only know how to whine…..PLEASE!!!!!! stop all these nonsense..if you guys want more of whatever you think you deserve…just work your heart out and pray to god you will definitely be bless with better status than you have now.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
[...] Read the Bersih petition on the constitution amendment. [...]
December 12th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Lingam,
It saddens me to see a Malaysian like you commenting negatively about this issue. You have a right to express yourself, SO DO WE. I’ll say it again, SO DO WE.
You may not agree that have a fair and transparent electoral process is fair and good. You may think democracy is utter bull. You may think that fighting for equal treatment is rubbish. You may think that human rights is not relevant.
BUT WE DO. You voiced out your opinion, fine. We are voicing out ours.
HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF A POLICEMAN ARRESTED YOU JUST FOR HAVING AN OPINION?
You’re probably pissed because you were stuck in traffic etc. Did you ever notice that the police put cones in the middle of the road and then sit back while cars pass by? Did they even pay attention to the cars and bikes passing by? NO. WHY? Because they WANT people like you to get pissed off and blame us.
I’m sorry that you have not taken the time to understand that what we are fighting for are BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS. We’re not asking for privileges. We are not asking for a change of government. We are asking FOR WHAT IS RIGHT AND FAIR FOR ALL. That includes YOU.
It’s sad when Malaysians who are being lied to, cheated and misled, don’t even realise it. It is sad when Malaysians have no regard for basic human right of expression and our PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO CRITICISE THE GOVERNMENT.
You think we caused the traffic jam? Think harder. There wasn’t even a gathering at all yesterday. It was just a 20 man delegation handing overa memorandum to parliment. The government seems scared or worried about a mere 20 men, so they set up countless roadblocks? So lame. You should KNOW that parliment is a public building and is open to all rakyat. But sensing our ignorance, I wouldn’t bet on it.
December 12th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
USELESS BN
December 12th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Wei BERSIH jgnlah wat benda yang tak berfaedah ni……Apa yang hangpa nak lagi..kita dah 50 Tahun Merdeka dah…..BERSIH SIAL!!!!
December 12th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Polis menahan 29 orang, termasuk beberapa pemimpin kanan parti pembangkang dan pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) kerana menyertai perhimpunan haram anjuran Gabungan Pilihan Raya Adil dan Bersih (Bersih) di ibu negara, semalam.
Semua ditahan selepas mengingkari arahan polis supaya bersurai sejajar perintah mahkamah melarang kumpulan itu mengadakan perhimpunan bagi menghantar memorandum menolak usul melanjutkan umur persaraan anggota Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR).
Kumpulan itu yang berkumpul di Dataran Merdeka dan hadapan Bank Negara sejak 8 pagi, merancang berarak ke bangunan Parlimen, tetapi dihalang polis.
Bagaimanapun, Ketua Penerangan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Tian Chua, bersama seorang rakannya, Abdul Razak Ismail, yang menaiki Proton Tiara membolosi sekatan polis di simpang masuk ke bangunan Parlimen.
Dalam kejadian jam 10.30 pagi itu, Tian Chua dan Abdul Razak tidak menghiraukan arahan supaya berhenti menyebabkan beberapa anggota polis termasuk dari Cawangan Khas Bukit Aman terpaksa mengejar dan menghalang keretanya, kira-kira 50 meter dari pintu masuk bangunan itu.
Keadaan menjadi tegang dan berlaku pergelutan apabila kedua-duanya enggan keluar dari kereta itu hingga memaksa polis menarik mereka, tetapi Chua bertindak menggigit seorang anggota polis.
Selain Tian Chua dan Abdul Razak, turut ditahan di lokasi sama ialah Setiausaha Agung PKR, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Timbalan Ketua Pemuda Pas Pusat, Nasrudin Tantawi, Ahli Jawatankuasa Pas Pusat, Dr Lo’Lo Mohd Ghazali serta tujuh lagi penyokong Bersih.
Enam lagi ditahan di tempat letak kereta bangunan Parlimen selepas menghantar memorandum berkenaan.
Mereka ialah Pengarah Pilihan Raya Pas, Datuk Mustafa Ali, Pengarah Pusat Penyelidikan Pas, Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, Pengarah Eksekutif Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Yap Swee Seng, ahli Writers Alliance of Media Independence, Wong Chin Huat, Pengasas Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat, Mein Lor dan Pengarah Eksekutif Pusat Kewartawanan Bebas, V Gayathry.
Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz ketika ditemui di lobi Parlimen, berkata polis berhak menahan sesiapa saja di dalam kawasan Parlimen jika mereka memberi ancaman keselamatan.
“Sesiapa saja yang memecah masuk zon sekuriti, termasuk Bangunan Parlimen boleh ditahan. Mereka kononnya mahu menghantar memorandum kepada semua Ahli Parlimen tetapi langsung tidak menghubungi saya mengenai perkara itu,” katanya.
Beliau berkata, walaupun diberi pas masuk sebagai tetamu kepada Ahli Parlimen Pas-Kubang Kerian, Salahuddin Ayub, tindakan kumpulan itu menghantar memorandum masih dianggap memecah masuk zon sekuriti.
Pindaan Rang Undang-undang Perlembagaan (Pindaan) 2007 yang melanjutkan umur persaraan anggota SPR itu, diluluskan sidang Dewan Rakyat semalam.
Sementara itu, Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara, Datuk Ismail Omar, ketika dihubungi berkata penahanan itu dibuat mengikut Seksyen 143 Kanun Keseksaan kerana menyertai perhimpunan haram yang boleh dihukum penjara maksimum enam bulan atau denda atau kedua-duanya.
“Kita menahan mereka kerana berdegil dan mahu meneruskan perhimpunan itu, walaupun sudah diberi amaran oleh polis sejajar dengan perintah yang dikeluarkan mahkamah melarang perhimpunan diadakan.
“Kebanyakannya ditahan di simpang masuk ke Bangunan Parlimen berhampiran Taman Tasik Perdana dan beberapa lokasi lain sekitar ibu negara, termasuk Dataran Merdeka,” katanya.
Bagaimanapun, sehingga jam 7.30 malam tadi, 12 orang termasuk Khalid, Mustafa, Yap, Gayathry dan Dr Dzulkifli dibebaskan dengan jaminan polis.
Tian Chua pula dilihat dibawa ke Kompleks Mahkamah Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Duta, kira-kira jam 2 petang sebelum ditahan di Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontinjen (IPK) Kuala Lumpur.
Ketika di mahkamah, beliau turut mencetuskan kekecohan apabila duduk bersimpuh di lantai dan enggan berjalan sebagai tanda protes terhadap penahanannya hingga terpaksa dipapah anggota polis.
Timbalan Pengarah Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah (Risikan/Operasi)Bukit Aman, Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah, ketika dihubungi berkata penyokong Bersih yang masih ditahan akan dibebaskan selepas keterangan mereka direkodkan.
“Semua dibebaskan atas jaminan polis sehingga Selasa depan. Kita sedang menyiasat secara terperinci kes ini dan mereka boleh dipanggil semula pada bila-bila masa untuk membantu siasatan,” katanya
December 12th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Dont argue with them aka Lingam. There are UMNO troops. They have their wages paid for insulting TRUTH MEDIA aka Blogger.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Exander,
Why don’t YOU stay at home.
I find it sad that some people are not able to express themselves without using harsh words or profanity. I find it very Nazri-like as shown in their parliamentary meetings.
Exander,
Obviously you find standing up against injustices or unfair conduct as ‘bodoh’ and ‘bangang’. My response to you would be:
Stay at home. Unplug the internet and subscribe to the disney channel.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:21 am
What can i say? klconfidential has said it all……..HINDRAF BERSIH and other coalitions aside, what is the focus to me is that we are losing what is most important to us OUR RIGHTS. Cant we express ourselves and voice our opinions because we feel something is wrong ? Cant we say what we think is right without being presecuted endlessly? Mark my words
what the government decides int he next few years will decide what direction our country is headed into…….either a (no offense to Muslims out there) a Muslim controlled extremist state or a tolerant society that we all hope for.
December 13th, 2007 at 2:35 am
It may sound stupid for it all still looks fine to you. Once the government is filled with people like Rashid and there is no turning back then we are all screwed.
Problems will arise and it will not end peacefully. Stop it while you can. Those that think it is useless can step aside and Keep Your Mouth SHUT because you does not want to sound your opinion, why give your piece now? I for one would take you as a “Save Rashid” supporter
December 13th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Yes..I believe in Tian Chua and the gang’s ability to reveal the truth. Go Tian Chua! I mean, he is the only one who can tamper with pictures to frame Najib with Altantuya and admit that he doctored the photos. I wonder what other documents he has submitted to the Malaysian people which he has doctored….hidup Tian Chua!