Public more empowered with proposed election reforms, says panel chief
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MALAYSIANS will be empowered to monitor and ensure elections are conducted lawfully should the Electorial Reform Committee’s (ERC) proposals for change go through, its chairman Ab Rashid Ab Rahman said.
When better laws and reforms are in place, voters themselves will take on the duties of the Election Commission (EC) to monitor the conduct of elections, Rashid told The Malaysian Insight.
“We want elections in Malaysia to be on par with those in developed countries.
Under the suggestions the ERC is presenting to the government, the onus to ensure integrity in elections will become the duty of all citizens and not the EC alone, said Rashid, who served the EC for 27 years as secretary and then as its chairman prior to his retirement.
He was appointed as ERC chairman in August last year under the Pakatan Harapan government. The ERC has a two-year mandate until August 2020 to review Malaysia’s current election laws and electoral system and recommend improvements to the government.
The proposals include merging regulations under three different laws governing elections into one legislation.
Currently, the three laws are the Election Commissions Act, Election Offences Act and Elections Act.
“We will propose just one act, we have models to follow from more developed countries,” Rashid said.
Other proposals include amendments to the federal constitution, the Police Act and the Societies Act.
Putrajaya has already made one constitutional amendment – lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 – that was passed in Parliament in July this year.
However, more can only happen if the public has a deeper understanding and maturity about elections, Rashid added.
“I am still shocked that many people don’t understand elections,” he said, referring to feedback gathered from public consultation sessions the ERC has been conducting for more than a year since the committee was formed.
For example, he said, many people do not understand the importance of a free press to provide fair and equitable media coverage of all political parties contesting an election.
“These are matters involving education and awareness. The public needs to be more knowledgeable about elections.”
Rashid talked about the maturity level of voters in developed countries, saying he felt “ashamed” about the way elections are conducted in Malaysia.
“I am ashamed, how it is during our elections we have to have thousands of police taking care of security. But in Australia, police are not needed for this purpose because all citizens are responsible.
“They know they should not violate election laws, they don’t want to and they don’t allow other citizens to do it. Even political parties know and do this,” he said.
The reforms being studied by the ERC now will eventually become law, if accepted by Putrajaya. When this happens, he said, there should be less confusion over the rules and citizens will be able to play their part.
“I’m not saying it will be 100% perfect. There is no such thing, but we will at least be able to say we can hold elections that are credible, and no one will have the chance to question if the law is right or not,” Rashid said.
Since it was formed last year, the ERC has held 18 sessions with various quarters around the country, including political parties, government agencies, civil society groups, media practitioners and academicians.
Rashid said the ERC’s proposals are aimed at ensuring elections in Malaysia are held on a level playing field, are free, fair and transparent.
“I don’t see why people will reject these reforms. If they want elections to be more democratic, this is what we are giving them. All citizens would surely want these,” he added. – December 21, 2019.