Malaysia: Elections without
representation By Baradan
Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR - Political tension
is rising in the run-up to Malaysia's next general
election as demands for free and fair polls made
by a coalition of opposition political parties and
civil-society groups are increasingly being met
with violence by the ruling 13-party Barisan
Nasional (BN, or National Front) coalition.
This month, police fired tear gas and shot
at protesters, injuring two opposition supporters
in the chest, while breaking up a massive
opposition rally in Terengganu state, one of the
few areas
of
Malaysia where the opposition and government are
matched roughly equally in electoral strength.
The rally, organized on September 8 by
BERSIH, an acronym for a coalition of five
opposition political parties and 26 civil-society
groups that means "clean" in the Malay language,
was the biggest gathering held so far to demand
reforms to the electoral system. The United Malays
National Organization (UMNO), Malaysia's largest
political party and the leader of the BN
coalition, has won all 11 general elections held
since the country achieved independence in 1957.
BERSIH has been touring the country
mobilizing public support for its reform cause
ahead of next polls, which are widely expected to
be called in November. Police responded with what
demonstrators contend is excessive use of force,
adding a new and violent dimension to Malaysia's
electoral politics.
"The use of such hard
force and firing weapons, injuring opposition
supporters, is unprecedented in recent history,"
said parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit
Siang.
Police said the assembly did not
have a proper permit and was therefore illegal,
but opposition leaders have insisted on their
right to peaceful assembly.
During the
melee, the national flag was burned, an act the
government-controlled mainstream electronic media
have taken advantage of by showing the scene over
and over again, in effect accusing opposition
members of being unpatriotic - a serious
accusation in a year when Malaysia is celebrating
50 years as an independent nation.
Prime
Minister Abdullah Badawi himself accused the
opposition parties of starting a riot to blame the
government and discredit his National Front
coalition. For their part, opposition leaders have
charged that cleverly disguised "agents
provocateurs" had burned the flag and put the
blame on them.
"The incident strongly
suggests that police harassment has reached new
heights against gatherings deemed unfavorable to
the government," said de facto opposition leader
Anwar Ibrahim in an interview this week with
Malaysiakini, an independent online news agency.
"This is cause for grave concern."
The
campaign for electoral reforms is a major effort
by the long-suffering opposition political parties
and civil-society leaders aimed at leveling the
electoral playing field.
Among the changes
they want is abolition of the so-called "first
past the post" polling system, which was inherited
from the departing British colonial authorities
and allows the election winner with a simple
majority to dominate Parliament.
Opposition political parties have
historically garnered anywhere between 40% and 50%
of the national vote, but always end up with a
paltry number of seats in Parliament - as is
currently the case. The combined opposition
controls only 18 of the 219 seats, although their
parties polled more than 40% of the national vote
at the 2004 general elections.
"This is an
outdated system that shuts out minorities, women
and indigenous people ... their voice is drowned
out by majority rule," said opposition politician
Lim. "It does not reflect the national vote that
[the] opposition won in the elections.
"With the outdated system, the government
virtually gives itself a huge majority every
election," he said. "We have elections but not
representative rule nor democratic practices - it
is a camouflage. It is time major changes are made
to the election system to make it truly
representative."
Other BERSIH demands
include an end to gerrymandering of electoral
constituencies that takes place once every 10
years and to make the Election Commission an
independent authority, ending its alleged
subservience to the ruling coalition.
Critics also want the government to allow
in domestic and international election observers
and to remove the discretionary powers given to
the Registrar of Societies to deny the
registration of new political parties for
arbitrary reasons. An example of this perceived
abuse of power pertains to the Socialist Party of
Malaysia, which has been denied registration for
more than a decade on grounds that it poses a
threat to national security.
"We also want
the high cash deposits for candidates to be
reduced," said Lim Guan Eng, secretary general of
the Democratic Action Party (DAP), the largest
opposition party in Parliament. "It is ridiculous
to impose high cash barriers for contesting and
still claim we are a democracy. Such methods
prevent poor people from seeking elected office,
leaving the rich to dominate Parliament." (The
filing fee just to contest a parliamentary
constituency in Malaysia is 8,000 ringgit, nearly
US$2,300).
Another BERSIH demand is to
increase the extremely short eight-day campaign
period - arguably the shortest of any democracy in
the world.
"Such a short campaign period
is ridiculously inadequate to [persuade] voters to
back the opposition," said Sivarasah Rasiah, a
human-rights lawyer and vice president of Anwar's
National People's Party.
"On the other
hand, the ruling coalition has all the advantages.
It keeps the polls date secret but prepares
heavily in the meantime and then springs a
surprise by suddenly dissolving Parliament,"
Rasiah said. "During the short, eight-day campaign
period [the ruling coalition] unleashes the
government machinery and mainstream media on us.
This is unethical and a serious violation of
democratic principles.
"Worse, the blitz
is paid for by public resources that should
rightly be also made available to us in equal
measures," Rasiah said. "While we are hounded,
refused permits and shot at, they are free to
assemble and preach directly and over the
government-controlled mainstream media. It all
makes for a sham election and democracy."
Some election experts say the electoral
roll itself is faulty, with the commission failing
to remove dead voters and clean up what opposition
party leaders claim are thousands of "phantom
voters". "There is a need to completely revise
and overhaul the electoral roll because it is
heavily compromised," said Yap Swee Seng,
executive director of Suaram (Suara Rakyat
Malaysia, or Voice of the Malaysian People), a
leading human-rights organization and BERSIH
member. "We need a roll that is clean [and]
transparent and one that inspires confidence."
So far the commission has conceded to one
of BERSIH's many demands - use of indelible ink to
prevent multiple voting. But opposition political
parties and other groups under the BERSIH umbrella
are planning to up the ante of their campaign and
set the stage for a major tussle with the ruling
BN coalition by organizing a mammoth rally next
month to press their case for reforms.
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