Bersih 2.0 will be handing over a memorandum on the Election Commission’s (EC) redelineation report to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker and Prime Minister on Wednesday (March 28) in a bid to prevent an “unfair delineation” without due process.
Why the report should be withdrawn from Parliament:
- Cases pending in the courts with respect to the delineation process conducted by the EC, one of them involving 107 plaintiffs representing 10,000 voters
- Violation of voters’ right to have their objections heard
- Less than the required two-year period from giving public notice of the proposed delineation to submitting a report to the PM
The memorandum will present reasons why Parliament should not give effect to the recommendations contained in the redelineation report.
“Bersih urges all Malaysians to join us as at the gates of Parliament as we submit a memorandum to the Speaker of Parliament,” it said during a press conference today.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia announced on March 22 that the motion on the redelineation would be tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat next Wednesday.
The motion, once debated and passed with a simple majority of 111 lawmakers in the Dewan Rakyat, will be gazetted upon receiving Royal assent as it does not need to be referred to the Dewan Negara for approval.
Bersih said there are currently cases pending in the courts with respect to the delineation process conducted by the EC.
“One of the cases has 107 plaintiffs representing 10,000 voters. The Election Commission has displayed extreme bad faith and lack of respect for voters and their rights by submitting the report to the Prime Minister while cases are pending before the courts,” it said.
It said the EC also failed to hear objections from the public, who had submitted objections in conformity with the Federal Constitution before it presented the report to the Prime Minister.
Bersih added that the EC did not respect the Federal Constitution’s stipulation that it requires a two-year period from giving public notice of the proposed delineation before submitting a report to the Prime Minister.
“The Election Commission published the notice on Sept 15, 2016. Therefore, the Election Commission has about six more months to complete its work (until Sept 14, 2018),” it said.
Bersih said that Pandikar Amin should not allow the tabling and debate of the report until all legal challenges are heard in court and decided by the judiciary.
“In view of the cases before the courts and the violation of voters’ right to have their objections heard, the Prime Minister and the Speaker should immediately withdraw the Report from Parliament,” it said.
The report on the motion was also the subject of some drama on March 22 when Pandikar Amin announced that the report will be embargoed until the first reading due next week.
“The report is embargoed until Wednesday, so let it be there (on your tables).
“You can feel it, you can touch it but you are not allowed to bring it out of the Dewan,” he said.
Later in the day, however, he made an about-turn after complaints by several MPs.
DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, the Gelang Patah MP, said the embargo on the report was an “unprecedented move” by the Government, claiming this was the first time such an embargo had been imposed.