The co-chair of Malaysia’s Bersih movement has promised another street rally if the government ignores the peoples’ demand for electoral reform. Speaking to Radio Australia’s Asia Pacific, Ambiga Sreenevasan says the Election Commission must clean up its electoral rolls before proceeding with its delineation of parliamentary and state constituency boundaries. The states of Sabah and Sarawak will be among those affected by the changes. She says the movement is very worried about the Electoral Commission’s plans. “What the election commission is planning to do, and they are pushing on ahead as I understand it, is to do the re-delineation process based on the electoral role which was used in the May elections. “That would be wholly unacceptable.”
“It takes time to clean up the rolls, we don’t see any moves by the EC to do a sincere job where that is concerned,” she said.
Ms Sreenevasan believes reform is needed not just in the states of Sabah and Sarawak. “The evidence is emerging in the inquiry into what’s happening in Sabah, but that doesn’t mean the rolls are clean anywhere else.”
She also says the Royal Commission of inquiry into illegal immigrants in Sabah in the lead up to the general election has revealed tampering with the electoral roll.
Full Article: More rallies promised if Malaysia ignores demands for electoral reform – Australia Network News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).