The Malaysian Insight

THE Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, better known as Bersih, may have started out with electoral reforms as its agenda, but its impact 15 years later is to have given more Malaysians the courage to speak up against wrongdoing, its former chairman Maria Chin Abdullah said.

At its start in 2006, Bersih was initially led by opposition party leaders who demanded that free and fair elections be held in the country, which had been governed by single-party rule under Barisan Nasional (BN) since independence.

To protect its credibility and to be non-partisan, Bersih eventually morphed into a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and renamed itself Bersih 2.0 in 2010 under the leadership of Maria and her co-chairperson, lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan.

“We started as an NGO, then it grew into a movement as decided by the people. The people came out and turned it into a movement,” Maria said in an interview about Bersih’s 15 anniversary today.

In the early days, Bersih was only focussed on the issues surrounding elections and voting, which many considered boring.

After five protests however, each of them drawing tens of thousands of people, Bersih has become a movement that also highlights government heavy-handedness, in particular with regards to the freedom of speech and assembly.

This is significant for Malaysia, where cultural norms dictate that speaking out against authority is wrong or unpatriotic. It gradually helped people see that they had a stake in the government’s affairs and that their voices mattered.

“It went beyond just fighting for electoral reform, to fighting for the freedom of assembly and speech.

“This was a movement that Malaysia never had. It heightened awareness on why we (the people) need to be involved in Malaysian politics,” Maria, who has left the NGO world for politics and is now Petaling Jaya MP, said.

Bersih spawned the courage for new groups fighting other causes to form, she added.

“Now, more people are speaking up. We now have Muda and Undi18. Bersih was the start of a lot of these formations.”

Maria said these new groups show that Malaysia can make space for dissenting voices.

“One is not alone when one speaks up. Others add on to the voice, and make it much bigger.”

Over its 15 years, Bersih has also changed the conversation in politics about elections and electoral reform.

Now, there is greater understanding and even demands by political parties themselves for anti-hopping laws and recall elections.

Bersih has also educated the public on malapportionment of votes, electoral boundary manipulation or gerrymandering, and voting fraud, which saw many people volunteer as polling agents and counting agents in subsequent elections.

It continues to monitor parties contesting in elections for campaigning offences and calls out politicians for these mistakes, even those from the opposition.

And indelibly, Bersih’s insistence on the use of indelible ink after voting, introduced in the 2013 general election, is here to stay, sparking the trend of voters proudly snapping photos of their stained finger to post on social media.

Here’s a look at key milestones in Bersih’s journey, including its five rallies:

July 2005

Activists form a joint action committee to champion electoral reform.

September 2006

Out of a workshop, a joint communique by civil society groups set down long-term objectives and goals to achieve electoral reform. A steering committee comprising members of political parties and NGOs is formed. The NGOs involved at this juncture were Suaram, Women’s Development Collective (which Maria was part of), and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (Wami).

November 23, 2006

Bersih was officially launched in the Parliament lobby and introduced its goal to have clean and fair elections in Malaysia to the public.

November 10, 2007: Bersih 1

A year after its official launch, Bersih held its first rally, with protestors converging in front of the then Istana Negara from different points in the city centre. The protest was sparked by allegations of corruption and electoral wrongdoing by the then ruling BN government.

The protest drew between 30,000 to 40,000 people and was organised through word of mouth, mobile phone and emails.

Looking back, political observers have said that this protest was one catalyst for change in the landmark 2008 general election when, for the first time since 1969, BN failed to secure a two-thirds majority.

Opposition parties won 82 seats in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat and 47.79% of the vote, while BN won 140 seats and 51.39% of the vote.

July 9, 2011: Bersih 2 and the start of Global Bersih

The second rally was held to protest alleged vote rigging in the Sarawak state elections in April 2011. Other demands made were for the use of indelible ink, cleaning the electoral roll of dead and ‘phantom’ voters, reforms to postal voting and a minimum campaign period of 21 days.

By this time, Bersih had re-branded itself as Bersih 2.0 and was co-chaired by Maria and Ambiga. Politicians exited the committee and the movement was led by civil society.

The second rally was to be held at Stadium Merdeka but Bersih was denied use of the venue. Nevertheless, an estimated 50,000 people took part in the rally on the streets.

News of the rally also spurred Malaysians overseas to hold demonstrations wherever they were, marking the start of overseas chapters and Global Bersih.

In Kuala Lumpur, protestors were met by tear gas and water cannons deployed by the police and federal reserve unit. More than 1,000 people were said to be arrested.

Bersih 2 was memorable for the police’s reaction that included the firing of tear gas into the Tung Shin Hospital premises where protestors had run to for refuge. It also showcased the people’s defiance as crowds stood fast against approaching water cannons and FRU units.

Maria and Ambiga were arrested by police as they were leaving the Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur to join the rally.

Maria recounted being tear gassed inside an underpass tunnel connecting the Hilton and KL Sentral train station. She and other arrested were held from 3pm and released at 9pm that night, while the protest went on.

April 28, 2012: Bersih 3

Bersih called for a third protest when its demands to the Public Select Committee for electoral reforms were not met. Dataran Merdeka was the focal point for protestors who marched from various parts of the city.

What started out as a peaceful protest led to tear gas and water cannons being deployed against protestors after some of them attempted to break through barricades that police had erected around the square.

There were allegations of police brutality after reports of protestors being beaten up badly. Maria said she met around 80 people at Hospital Kuala Lumpur at 4am the next day who said they had been severely beaten.

There were also anecdotal claims that Internet jammers were used in the city centre so that protestors could not track the rally’s developments.

General elections were held the following year and the BN coalition’s winning streak continued to suffer. The opposition continued increasing their foothold, winning 50.87% of the popular vote and 89 seats.

August 29-30, 2015: Bersih 4

This was planned an overnight or “sleepover” rally across three cities – Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

In addition to electoral reforms, a new goal this time was the resignation of then prime minister Najib Razak.

By this time, news of his 1MDB scandal involving US$700 million (RM2.92 billion) in his personal bank accounts, had been reported by the Wall Street Journal.

This rally will be remembered for the Home Ministry’s ban on yellow t-shirts with the words “Bersih”, but protestors wore yellow and Bersih t-shirts anyway, turning the roads and pavements around Dataran Merdeka yellow as they lay down to sleep for the night.

This rally also marked a shift in the police’s response, as no water cannons or tear gas was used, although police presence was heavy.

It also saw former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and wife Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali make their first appearance at a Bersih rally.

Meanwhile, around the world in more than 70 cities, Malaysians abroad also held Bersih 4 rallies.

November 19, 2016: Bersih 5

It was the 10th anniversary of the movement. The rally highlighted five demands: clean elections, clean government, strengthened parliamentary democracy, the right to dissent, and empowerment for Sabah and Sarawak.

The protest was relatively peaceful except for scuffles between rally goers and the Red Shirts (Himpunan Maruah Melayu) members, which had planned a counter-demonstration.

Police again did not deploy water cannons and tear gas, but instead rounded up Bersih leaders before the rally.

Maria was among them. She was held under the anti-terror law, the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 and charged.

Two years later, at the 14th general election, history was made when BN lost federal power for the first time in 60 years. This paved the way for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to form a government under the leadership of Dr Mahathir.

GE14 also saw Global Bersih facilitate overseas voting by having Malaysians abroad physically delivering postal votes back to the country in time for ballot counting.

It was a massive operation dubbed by some as “The Amazing Race” where strangers connected with each other through word of mouth and social media to collect and hand over overseas ballot papers to those with flights home, who then, upon arrival, rushed to distribute the ballots to the respective constituencies for counting.

February 2019

Bersih finally receives “recognition” from the federal government under PH, with its resource officer Zoe Randhawa appointed to the Election Commission. – November 23, 2021.