“Clean” elections and “Bersih”
BERSIH 5.0 was recently concluded on November 19, 2016. One of their demands was for “clean elections”. In making that demand Bersih 2.0 set forth the mechanisms to achieve the desired results. The definition of the word “clean” has to be made clear before we go further.
Who decides what is clean and what is not? Is the cleanliness in reference to the process or in selection of candidates? Perhaps these could be answered by the relevant personnel. The first suggestion made was for the use of high quality indelible ink and a minimum 21 day campaign period.
Would a longer period result in better results? It is not uncommon to see our parliamentarians charged for defamation. Given the situation of Malaysian politics, how does one determine if a particular campaign is indeed better?
Apparently the ink used previously was not up to expectations. However the idea of quality is subjective to the standards used for measurements. What are the codes and who decides to use them? in other words, how does one make sure that the ink used is indeed of good quality? Is something only acceptable if Bersih says it is?
Apart from that there is a recommendation for a 21 day campaign period. What is the basis for the 21 days? Then the second idea is for a fair and accountable constituency delineation. What constitutes fair in this case?
Is the delineation fair in Penang and Selangor? Or these states too have unjust mechanisms for delineation? Is this proposal valid for all 222 Parliamentary seats or just some? The fact that political parties joined Bersih 5.0 and supported the agendas, raises a lot of questions.
As far as Bersih is concerned, the struggle for “free and fair elections” have always been fought since the first rally in 2007. The voting process has gone through many changes, but ostensibly these alterations are not enough. The question is, what is meant by change? And how much change would be required to fulfil Bersih’s demands?
Rehan Ahmad Jamaluddin Ahmad
Research Fellow, Institut Kajian Strategik Islam Malaysia (IKSIM)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, and should not be attributed to, Isma or Ismaweb.
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