By Ambiga Sreenevasan
June 21, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JUNE 21 — We thank the EC for the invitation but the time for talk and discussion has passed. This is due to the reports of blatant abuses of power in the recent Sarawak election and in view of the impending General Elections.
The EC’s continued assertions that they have no power to act in the face of such abuses and the information that the suggestions they have made to the Government for reform have met with no success gives us little hope in further discussion.
In the public interest the EC should disclose the reforms they have suggested to the Government. Although we acknowledge that the EC has introduced some suggestions of reform to postal votes, it is our view these reforms do not go far enough.
The EC’s comment that Bersih 2.0 is not independent is baseless. More importantly that comment and the comment about political parties does not reflect well on EC’s independence given that they are constitutionally required to be above partisan politics.
It should not matter to them who the suggestions for reform come from, whether it is from the Government, the Opposition, NGOs or any citizen. They should deal with all suggestions on their merits.
* Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan is chairman of Bersih 2.0, the electoral reforms group.