ELECTORAL REFORM OF TINDAK MALAYSIA

DURING an interview with NTV7 on 9th Apr 2012, Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Razak assured us that elections will be free and clean. We have followed up with his assurances and a coalition of NGOs is putting forward a package of electoral reforms aimed at restoring the spirit and intention of the original Federation of Malaysia Constitution.

To achieve this, we are proposing more than 204 amendments to the Enactments and Regulations relatedto the election systems and processes as well as to the relevant Articles of the Federal Constitution.

In view of this, the electoral reform program of Tindak Malaysia - which began as an implementation of the 8 Demands put forward by Bersih 2.0 - has expanded this to covera comprehensive review of the entire electoral system and process.

These reforms are intended to bring Malaysians back to the democratic aspirations of the original Federation of Malaya and Federation of Malaysia Constitutions. These reforms will take us beyond the 13th General Elections and set the tone for the future of democracy in our nation.

This initiative will challenge the politicians on both sides of the divide to work towards the restoration of the democratic stature. While some of the proposals will require the endorsement of a simple majority in Parliament, others only need to be approved by His Majesty the Yang di PertuanAgong.

Constitutional amendments will require a 2/3 majority vote. It is important that the politicians and their parties state their stance on these proposals before they go to the polls in GE13.

Bersih2.0 coalition successfully mobilised more than 200,000 Malaysians to demonstrate their concerns about the lack of free and fair elections. Issue-focused groups like HINDRAF (Hindu Rights Action Force), SMSL (Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas), SADIA (Sarawak DayakIban Association), SABM (SayaAnakBangsa Malaysia), SCANE (Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment), ABU, electoral watchdogs (MAFREL &Sibu Election Watchers), Opinion survey organisation (MerdekaCenter)and think-tank (Centre for Policy Initiative - CPI) have joined Tindak Malaysia to launch these proposals.

We support Bersih 2.0’s efforts on mobilising voters to achieve 100% turnout at the elections as well as to become monitors to observe and report on electoral irregularities during the 13th General Elections.

Our proposals are meant to complement BERSIH 2.0’s efforts and we look forward to gathering even more support from organisations and individuals to make thiscall for electoral reform a reality.