{"id":8726,"date":"2011-07-01T14:11:29","date_gmt":"2011-07-01T06:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teresakok.com\/?p=8726"},"modified":"2011-07-01T14:49:34","modified_gmt":"2011-07-01T06:49:34","slug":"ec-itself-is-not-independent-and-is-an-enemy-of-clean-and-fair-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=8726","title":{"rendered":"EC’s attacks on Bersih proves EC itself is not independent and is enemy of clean and fair elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press statement by Teresa Kok, Member of Parliament for Seputeh and Selangor Senior EXCO in Shah Alam on 1 July 2011.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

EC Deputy Chairman Wan Ahmad\u2019s partisan attacks on Bersih 2.0 prove that the EC itself is not independent and is an enemy of clean and fair elections in Malaysia<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Election Commission\u2019s Deputy Chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar\u2019s vilification of Bersih 2.0 as a stooge for Pakatan Rakyat makes it clear to all Malaysians that the EC itself is not an independent body and cannot be counted on to uphold the rakyat\u2019s civil right to clean and fair elections.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wan Ahmad\u2019s call for Bersih to distance itself from Pakatan Rakyat is mischievous, misleading and unfair because Bersih made a conscious and public decision to drop all political parties from its membership to avoid such undue accusations after the first Bersih rally in 2007. Bersih is now a coalition consisting of 60+ civil society organizations and no political parties.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Bersih has consistently tried to engage with all political parties in Malaysia, including Barisan Nasional (BN), to gather support for its eight demands for electoral reform, only to be consistently ignored, rebuffed or dismissed by BN leaders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bersih\u2019s eight demands for electoral reform are fair, reasonable and essential in healthy democracies around the world. The eight demands are:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Clean the electoral roll<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reform postal ballot<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use of indelible ink<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Minimum 21 days campaign period<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Free and fair access to media<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Strengthen public institutions<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stop corruption<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stop dirty politics<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If the EC and the government would only adopt these eight demands, the elected government of the day would have even greater legitimacy in its right to rule. Only an already corrupt and sullied government which robs power through dirty elections, with the support of a partisan EC that enables and turns a blind eye to dirty elections, would oppose these eight demands and demonise the civil society movement that advocates them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I remind Wan Ahmad that at the Public Forum with the EC organized by the Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) and held at MBPJ on 22 February 2011, and attended by about 200 members of the public, Wan Ahmad himself went on record saying that the EC does not have the power to execute any of the electoral reforms proposed by Bersih due to the EC\u2019s legal limitations and that according to the law, the EC is only empowered \u201cto conduct and administer elections\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wan Ahmad even said, \u201cI wish you would go to the Prime Minister and the Attorney General with your reform proposals because the EC can\u2019t do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thus, Wan Ahmad should be grateful that Bersih has the courage and integrity to push for the electoral reforms that the EC is powerless to provide, and lend his full support to the Bersih public rally on July 9.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Deputy Chairman of the EC, Wan Ahmad should recognise that the adoption of Bersih\u2019s eight demands for electoral reform will only help the EC be truly independent of the executive, more powerful and become a world-class institution worthy of respect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Moreover, it is his intense opposition towards Bersih that makes him and the EC look like the enemy of clean and fair elections and puppets of BN, more than ever before.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Teresa Kok<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Press statement by Teresa Kok, Member of Parliament for Seputeh and Selangor Senior EXCO in Shah Alam on 1 July 2011. EC Deputy Chairman Wan Ahmad\u2019s partisan attacks on Bersih 2.0 prove that the EC itself is not independent and is an enemy of clean and fair elections in Malaysia   The Election Commission\u2019s Deputy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1112,"featured_media":8727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections"],"yoast_head":"\nEC's attacks on Bersih proves EC itself is not independent and is enemy of clean and fair elections - TERESAKOK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=8726\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EC's attacks on Bersih proves EC itself is not independent and is enemy of clean and fair elections - TERESAKOK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Press statement by Teresa Kok, Member of Parliament for Seputeh and Selangor Senior EXCO in Shah Alam on 1 July 2011. 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