Media Statement
New Threats to the Last Remaining Democratic Institution
Yet most Malaysians still consider the elections and the electoral process as important features of our constitutional system of government; not least because it is the one remaining democratic institution that is still beyond the grip of the Executive. Here, the unpredictable can still occur
Not surprisingly, the BN seeks to amend the Election Act - to tighten its grip so as to eliminate surprises and to reduce the possibility of change from a BN government to an opposition one.
Three aspects of the proposed amendments are particularly insidious.
First, any questioning of the electoral rolls is to be denied in future. The proposed amendment states that once the rolls have been gazetted, they become "final and shall not be questioned or appealed against or reviewed, quashed or set aside by any court" [Section 9(A) of the Election (Amendment) Bill 2002].
No doubt this amendment follows upon the heels of what occurred in Sabah recently when the Court ruled the victory of the BN candidate in Likas null and void. The Judge agreed with the petitioner's claim that there were "phantom voters" on the electoral roll.
The issue at hand is whether the Election Commission (SPR) can guarantee that the electoral rolls are up-to-date and clean, including devoid of phantom voters. Naturally, the SPR will claim that its rolls are in order, as it did prior to the March 1999 Sabah state election. In fact, as the Court has ruled - and the evidence for its ruling is in the public record - the rolls were polluted with phantoms.
Hence, if the SPR cannot guarantee that the electoral rolls are in order, and Malaysians are denied the right to question the state of these rolls, including in a Court of Law, where does this leave Malaysians who still believe in the electoral process? What kind of a democracy are we practising if phantom voters can cast their ballots yet we cannot prevent them from doing so?
In this regard, it is important to keep in mind that the SPR is no longer the independent body it used to be. Due to an earlier Constitutional amendment, the SPR is now answerable to Parliament, which is of course dominated by the BN. It is significant that, only recently, the Prime Minister promised that Putrajaya would soon have its own member of parliament. Likewise, Johor UMNO leaders have boasted that there would soon be additional seats for the party to contest. Yet, under the law, it is only the SPR that can determine how the electoral boundaries are to be redrawn and the number of additional seats created; not the PM and certainly not Johor UMNO.
A second amendment concerns the amount of compensation payable to any person aggrieved as a result of an objection made to the inclusion of his or her name on the electoral roll without "reasonable cause." The compensation has been increased from RM200 to RM1,000.
As a result of this amendment, eliminating a particular phantom voter or a suspected phantom voter will not only entail much tedious work as is now the case, but could potentially cost a lot of money as well. As the 2000-2001 lawsuit in the Taiping High Court involving the Sungai Siput electoral rolls revealed, it is possible but very difficult to prove in court that a registered voter is actually a phantom voter.
The third amendment pertains to the sharp increase in the deposit required of contesting candidates: from RM5,000 to RM20,000. There is no justification for this sharp increase. It is clearly intended not simply to exclude the poor but in particular to burden and inconvenience the poorer opposition parties. On the other hand, the increase is a drop in the bucket for the BN parties, which list among their assets fancy party headquarters, media empires, colleges and now universities and various other companies, listed as well as unlisted ones.
Instead of indulging in the politics of exclusion and denial, the BN government should endeavour to make politics accessible to all. It should amend the laws and direct the SPR (which it controls in reality) to look into issues such as
Dr Francis Loh
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Malaysians are well aware of the unlevel playing field that characterises our electoral process. As elections approach, Malaysians see clearly the Barisan Nasional's domination and abuse of the media, its access and use of government facilities and funds, and its possession of huge electoral war chests, which allow the BN to outspend its challengers.
The shame of it all is that the responsible citizen who tries to eliminate phantom voters from the rolls could end up being punished severely. On the other hand, those who have allowed themselves to be registered as phantom voters or those officials who registered the phantom voters into the rolls in the first place, it appears, get off scot free! Why is there no similar punitive action against these phantom voters and the SPR officials who registered them if our larger goal is to ensure free and fair elections and to entrench our democracy?