Malaysian General Election 2004 Special

The BN has turned the democratic election process into farcical nonsense

Rama: Bring back the democratic process

Mr Chairman, Fellow Malaysians, Friends, Ladies and gentlemen:

Thank you very much for your presence tonight. You are the caring Malaysians who make the difference. But looking at your numbers, it is so depressing. There are so few of us! But that shouldn't discourage us. Our numbers may be small but in certain areas and constituencies we will make the difference.

Throughout human history it is the few who count and, indeed, they make the difference.

On Sunday night when the votes are counted, we are going to find out whether you and I - and like-minded Malaysians - would count.

This 11th general election is very crucial for all of us. Indeed, this election will determine whether the rot can be put on hold. If it is going to be a runaway election for the Barisan Nasional with more than two-thirds majority, it would mean the country will be in serious trouble.

It would mean that Malaysians are not bothered about fair and free elections; it would mean that we are prepared to condone the terrible abuses of the democratic system; it would mean that we can tolerate corruption; it would mean that we don't care about justice, ethics, fairness, what is right and wrong. And above all, it would mean, that we are unable to remain true to our conscience.

Justice is all about fairness. When this fairness is removed we have no business to talk about democracy or pretend to be concerned with human rights. But this is what the BN is doing all the time and hoodwinking the people.

Sham election

Let's look at this election. Why is it so unfair?

To begin with there are only seven days of campaigning. How does the opposition respond to the BN within such a short period? Do they have time to print the posters and get ready the election banners to drive home their message? Do their leaders have time to go around and lend a helping hand to their colleagues? Does it allow them even to campaign effectively in their own constituency?

It is an impossible task. You can't call this free and fair election. It is a sham election that disgraces the fair name of democracy.

Even during the height of of the Communist Emergency, the campaign period was long.The Indonesian Confrontation did not rob us of this long period of campaign. In 1955 we had 43 days of campaigning which gave us sufficient time to listen to both sides before casting our votes. In 1959, 1964 and 1969 the campaign period was 35 days.

Democracy was not sacrificed in the name of national security then.

The BN had all the time in the world to get their arsenal ready to bulldoze their way through this election. The Prime Minister went around the country visiting all the states to put across the BN's message; they had printed their election material in China so that they would have a head-start over their opponents; they made a couple of arrests to show that they are serious about fighting corruption.

They had laid the ground well and had created a favourable environment before dissolving parliament.

If we want to help our Prime Minister to fight corruption, then we must send more Opposition MPs to Parliament. Only they will push for action to combat corruption.

As if this wasn't enough, they also had the Election Commission to make their mission simply possible. The EC had redrawn the boundries to give an added advantage to the BN. The opposition areas were tampered with.

Supporters were shifted to other areas to dilute the opposition's strongholds. New constituencies were created by cutting into existing ones to provide further opportunity to the BN. Familiar names were got rid off so that the new constituency will not remind voters of the opposition. Why was Ait Itam - a name so familiar and so famous in Penang - renamed Air Puteh? Is it to whitewash a lie?

On what basis was the delineation carried out? Was it done with the people's welfare in mind or was it done to please the BN?

Phantom voters

To add salt to injury, the electoral roll, which is corrupted with phantom voters, has been put beyond question. The electoral roll that has been verified by the EC cannot be challenged now even if thousands of non-residing voters are discovered in a constituency where they have no business to be registered.

In Sungai Siput, for example, we are told that some 5,000 voters from outside this constituency have been registered to vote here. Now, by the latest ruling you cannot challenge this irregularity. They will remain in Sungai Siput as legal and legitimate voters.

What a tragedy! You cannot right a wrong even though that wrong is glaring at you. What ethics is the BN talking about and propagating in this country.

You can only challenge the newly registered voters for the last three months. But even this is not possible because there is no way for you to identify them as newly registered voters.

The CD-rom containing all the registered voters that was available in 1999 was formated using the Microsoft Excel programme. This system allowed you to make a detailed study of the voters. You could sort them out by areas, by residential addresses, by date of birth, date of registeration etc to discover irregularities. The CD that is available now uses a system that does not allow this kind of search. Only their names and addresses are to be found without the date of registration of voters. How then do you find out whether they are newly registered voters to challenge their presence on the electoral roll?

Other irregularities are also shocking. In Sungai Siput, Samy Vellu's operations centre, which is an office, has 12 registered voters. Large numbers of voters were falsely registered at ficticious addresses where there were no houses. A search for these addresses led to an empty ground. How low can they stoop to win!

This morning I was informed that in Pandamaran in Klang a one-room flat had 150 registered voters. How is it possible? Even if they took turns and slept through shift systems, it is not possible for all of them to get any sleep!

The Malay Mail of 9 March revealed a shocking survey conducted by Mafrel - Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections. The most revealing of the findings disclosed three addresses in Lembah Pantai with more than 100 voters, with the highest number registered in a single address in Kampung Pasir Dalam as high as 156! This election is not free and fair. It is a farce conducted in the name of democracy.

Simple majority enough

The BN is going around asking for a landslide victory to combat corruption and to provide an effective government. They want their hands to be strengthened with a two-thirds majority. Is it really necessary to have a two-thirds majority to provide welfare and good governance? The answer is NO! You only need a two-thirds majority to amend the constitution to introduce undemocratic laws and take away our rights and freedom.

When the government amended the Corruption Act, the opposition voted with the BN. When the United States was condemned through a resolution in Parliament for invading Iraq, the opposition joined forces to stand solidly with the BN. In matters benefiting the people, the opposition has no businees to oppose.

To pass bills and approve the budget you don't need a two-thirds majority. A simple majority is enough for the passage of this.

Let me quote an example of this. When the BN introduced amendments to the Election Act to make our election undemocratic as I have revealed earlier on, it only took 32.6 per cent of the MPs to pass the Bill. Where is the problem and what is the problem for the BN if it has a clear simple majority?

In any case, hardly 50 MPs attend Parliamentary sessions. Very often the BN MPs cannot not provide a quorum for parliament to function. After all, it only takes 26 MPs for a quorum. Why then do they ask for a two-thirds majority?

Let the BN continue to rule. But if we want to address the many wrongs that are troubling us, then a stronger presence of the opposition is very necessary.

If we want to help our Prime Minister to fight corruption, then we must send more Opposition MPs to Parliament. Only they will push for action to combat corruption. You can't expect the BN MPs to do that.

The BN has turned the democratic election process into farcical nonsense. Let us put a stop to this rot. Let us bring back the democratic process and make it meaningful and relevant to all Malaysians.

This is a formidable task but anything worth fighting for is never easy. These are troubling times but there are also opportunities for some change.

For those who feel despondent and hopeless, let me end this talk with a quote:

"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."

The above speech was delivered at a forum - General Election 2004: Democracy And You - jointly organised by Penang Office for Human Development and Aliran on 18 March 2004

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