by Malaysian Students Solidarity
Aliran Monthly Vol 25 (2005): Issue 9

	It was a warning notice from our young people to highlight the crisis that had occurred in our country: campus elections around Malaysia were faulty and unfair. SMM

On 12 September 2005, students under the banner of �Malaysia Students Solidarity� visited the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) to raise a couple of issues. In particular, they were concerned about a �public speaking test� at the International Islamic University Malaysia as well as cases of students being threatened on a few campuses to vote for the pro-establishment students bloc.

Nine days later, some 200 university students held a 90-minute peaceful protest outside Parliament, demanding fairplay during the approaching campus elections. The students held placards with caricatures of Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Salleh, peppered with the words such as �blur� and �I don�t know�, in reference to the minister�s comments on the campus elections. They also unfurled a banner that read �Students demand clean campus elections, free campus�, while sporadic chants of �Student power!� were heard.

Boycott!

Nomination day for the annual campus polls on 26 September turned out to be �boycott day� at five public universities. �Pro-students� factions (always labeled as �anti-establishment�) refused to put up candidates in protest at the unfairness and abuse of power by the university administration. The five universities are Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), International Islamic University Malaysia (UIAM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI).

Eleven days later, on 7 October, some 150 undergraduates - complete with a black coffin, draped with the Malaysian flag, and bearing the words �Campus Democracy� - staged a �funeral procession� in the pouring rain. The crowd marched from the National Mosque to Suhakam�s office in Kuala Lumpur to protest the end of democracy in varsities nationwide. Instead of submitting reports to complain about the irregularities during the campus elections, the students were marching on the street this time to demonstrate their deep disappointment over the violations.

It was a warning notice from our young people to highlight the crisis that had occurred in our country: campus elections around Malaysia were faulty and unfair.

Campus elections are a necessary process in forming Students Representative Councils (SRC) every year in Malaysian universities. The polls were however tarnished by complaints that they were unfair and open to abuse of power.

What ails campus democracy?

Looking at the history of campus elections, there have been allegations every year of irregularities like midnight raids on students� rooms, crackdowns on activities organised by students who refuse to be stooges, the physical assault of students who would not bow to orders, and intimidation in other forms.

Memorandum after memorandum has been sent to the Suhakam and other relevant authorities, detailing such irregularities. Letters have been sent and dialogues held - and yet the issue has not yet been seriously examined. The result is still the same. The corruption of campus elections is still unacknowledged and the situation has become even worse.

To date, none of the perpetrators have been brought to justice. The election commission, headed by the deputy vice-chancellors of several universities, has failed to ensure a free and fair election. Instead, it has acted unjustly to ensure that preferred candidates win.

What happened this year? Below are some examples:

• UIAM and UPM used e-voting that had no transparency, credibility and privacy.


• Six USM campus election candidates and the families of nominators received threats via phone calls and SMS messages


• At UTM, the price of nomination forms was increase from RM5 in year 2003 to RM50. Deposits were raised from RM10 to RM150 for campus-level constituencies and RM100 for faculty-level constituencies. Protest forms were sold for RM300. This puts clear financial pressure on students.


• From July until now, campus authorities at the Sultan Idris Education University misused their power and organised at least nine gatherings with students with the motive of promoting pro-establishment candidates. The campus authorities also threatened students to vote for these candidates or risk being sent to rural areas such as Sabah and Sarawak to work as teachers after graduation.

A call to action

We call upon civil society groups and concerned individuals to write to the Higher Education Minister to express our concern over the current corrupt election system and the abuse that is taking place at every university. At the same time, we urge the Higher Education Ministry to declare invalid the recent campus elections at all campuses and to hold fresh free and fair polls under a reformed electoral system.

We also call on the Minister to take immediate action against those responsible for the election misconduct and to ensure that such abuse is not repeated. The Minister must ensure that future campus elections do not violate the principles of freedom, fairness and democracy.

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The above is an edited version of a statement issued on 14 October 2005 by Malaysian Students Solidarity. The movement also came up with a resolution on �Free and fair campus elections,� which was endorsed by 26 civil society groups including Aliran.

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