WanSaiful.com

IDEAS’ website (www.ideas.org.my) has exceeded its bandwith. Unfortunately we do not have the money to pay for a bigger bandwith. So for the time being, I am putting up the GE13 election observation report here, together with our position on the matter. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Click here to download full report: GE13 Observation Interim 8 May 2013

MALAYSIA’S GE13 WAS ONLY PARTIALLY FREE AND NOT FAIR.

The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) was accredited by the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) to observe the
recently concluded 13th General Elections. Our mandate was to observe, record, analyse and report events leading up to GE13, and subsequently recommend ways to improve any weaknesses found. We benchmarked our observation against the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections. We deployed 325 observers to 99 parliamentary constituencies in Peninsula Malaysia and 6 overseas polling centres.

Generally, we found that EC successfully ensured the overall process between nomination day and election day proceeded smoothly without any major glitches. Complaints have been filed about the possibility of phantom voters and the failure of the indelible ink to work as it should.  Both are important issues that must be addressed. However, we position these two issues in the context of the wider lack of trust in the integrity of the electoral roll, instead of simply a weakness of the EC. In order to address the root cause of the problem, serious
attention must be given to improving the integrity of the electoral roll.  This involves improving the integrity of the National Registration Department’s database, which may not be within the EC’s purview.

It is important to examine the events building up to GE13 in order to get a better perspective. Taking a long-term view, we saw that:

1. The media was heavily biased in favour of Barisan Nasional. State-funded media platforms have been abused to project partisan
views to the public.

2. There were doubts about the EC’s impartiality and competency despite their many efforts to improve the electoral system. They were
seen as being part of an already biased civil service.  The fact that EC members repeatedly issued statements that could be construed as
partisan did not help.  Their defensiveness when criticised further angered the public.

3. Trust in the integrity of the electoral roll is low.  This resulted in the public being very cautious when there were reports of
foreigners being flown in, when they saw foreign-looking individuals, or when the indelible ink was seen as ineffective.

4. The Registrar of Societies did not treat all political parties equally, delaying the registration process of non-BN parties.

5. Constituency sizes are too unequal, allowing parties that win many smaller seats to win parliament, despite not commanding popular
support.

6. Financing of political parties is not transparent, resulting in a big lack of clarity about the financial standing of the competing parties.

7. During the campaigning period, government and armed forces facilities were repeatedly used for campaigning purposes during the official campaign period.

8. Racial issues were dangerously exploited for political gains. There were many instances of BN fishing for votes by sowing mistrust
between the Chinese and Malay communities.

Therefore, although the official campaign period and electoral processes may have proceeded smoothly and with minimal major issues,
wider issues that are not within the EC’s purview have built up over the last few years.  These issues conspired against non-BN parties,
therefore creating a very uneven field. Due to these reasons, we conclude that GE13 was only partially free and not fair.

Click here to download full report: GE13 Observation Interim 8 May 2013

Filed under: Malaysia, Politics

It has been a while since I updated this blog. That’s because all my writings are already posted on http://www.ideas.org.my. But I really should try to update this every so often.

Last week my article below (and here) was published in The Star (iPad edition). The responses I received were divided – those who are already partisan said that the piece is too idealistic, while those who are not partisan suggested that they understood where I was coming from.

Let me provide two illustrations on how things could be if we had more people who hold stringly to their principles BEFORE entering politics.

Example 1: Check out Mark Pritchard’s video here (the first video).

Example 2: Check out this article by Tim Montgomerie.

In both instances we have Conservative MPs standing up fighting for what they believe is right. Can you imagine any Malaysian MP doing it in Dewan Rakyat? I can’t. Not from BN. Not from Pakatan. Not from UMNO. Not from PAS.

Many political activists in Malaysia are simply visionless and spineless, the only thing they know is to follow blindly what their masters say.

Principles before partisanship
By Wan Saiful Wan Jan, for The Star iPad edition, 22 June 2011

My diary has been extraordinarily full over the last few weeks. On average I took part, either as a speaker or moderator, in three or four events every week. I can make two observations from these engagements.

First, too many things have been turned into a partisan debate. I don’t mind when issues are ‘politicised’ because we can hardly avoid politics. It plays an important role in almost every aspect of our lives.

The price of teh tarik mamak is influenced by the politics around sugar subsidies. The quality of teachers in schools is dependent on the politics around teacher placement. And how much we pay for our iPads is subject to the politics around import duties and taxation. So, I don’t mind debating politics. It is part of life.

But the problem arises when politics is confused with partisanship. Partisanship has become so bad, such that we can’t even have a healthy political debate anymore. How many times have you heard a debate ending with “Of course you will say that, you support party X”? That is the best way to end a debate without solving the issue. It does not contribute to healthy debate culture.

Second, too many people think that the only way to solve problems is by entering partisan politics. They feel that joining a political party is a must, otherwise you might as well shut up. Hence we see droves of very clever youths joining political parties, hoping that they can solve problems from within a partisan environment.

What they don’t realise is that they cannot solve a structural problem by becoming part of the problematic structure. Instead, they eventually become partisan too. They obediently choose their party above rational thinking and reasoning. Defending the parties that they support takes precedence over the truth. They will vote regardless of whether the party offers good or bad policies.

Take for example the issue of ethnic discrimination policies in Malaysia. I see so many people who, in their university years, talk about the need to end racial and religious discriminations. They thought that in order to end it, they must join a political party. Soon after joining a party, they start thinking about how best to attract the “Malay votes” or “Chinese votes” or “Muslim votes”.

Lo and behold these aspiring youths eventually become a cog in discriminatory political machines that they wanted to destroy in the first place. They joined intending to be part of the solution, they end up being part of the problem.

The two actually feeds into each other, producing a viscious cycle. We turn issues into a partisan debate, and we ourselves willingly become partisan. As a result we see more things along a partisan divide, and we call for more people to divide themselves according to how political parties view issues.

It is about time we find a way out from this viscious cycle.

I was invited to speak at an event organised by the Bangi branch of Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) last Sunday and I suggested that they must avoid the urge to join any political party. Instead, they should focus on strengthening civil society.

I reasoned that we have allowed political parties to trample over civil society for too long. Political parties have vested interest. Their sole ambition is power. Civil society organisations are supposed to have principles that act as a mechanism for check and balance against politicians. Civil society should not become agencies of politicians or political parties.

In a country like Malaysia where political parties are huge, the check and balance mechanism is even more important.

I have seen so many organisations and individuals ending up as mouthpieces of political parties and politicians even though they claim to be part of the civil society. Worse still, there are some entities who masquerade as civil society organisations, when, in reality, they were set up by political parties to lie and deceive the populace in the guise of an NGO. This is truly despicable.

It is as if we have allowed politicians to shape the agenda and we merely follow. If this trend continues, civil society in Malaysia has a bleak future.

We call our elected representatives “Wakil Rakyat” for a very good reason. They are there to represent us, as our “wakil”. We are the ones who appoint them, pay their salaries, and determine whether or not they should continue in office. Why do we allow them to be our masters?

The inversed relationship is wrong and must be corrected. It is civil society that is supposed to shape the political landscape. We should have our own principles with which we influence the political debate and politicians. Politicians are supposed to follow our lead, and we must reclaim the right to lead.

Filed under: Malaysia, Politics