Under the umbrella of its international chapter, Global Bersih, based in Geneva, the coalition has embarked on an online crowd funding initiative, seeking to raise RM150,000 yearly from Malaysians living abroad.
According to its statement on chuffed.org, Bersih said it had produced evidence that in the last GE, the ruling government had manipulated the electoral process through, among others, gerrymandering, phantom voters, a biased media and postal vote fraud.
“The 2014 Bersih People’s Tribunal delivered its verdict that GE13 was indeed marred by irregularities.
“One way to overcome this disadvantage for GE14 is to have even higher turnout of voters.
“To broaden our services and prepare for GE14, we need your help to build additional capacity.”
The money, according to the watchdog, would be used to expand its Secretariat capacity with appropriate staff.
This is so it can continue to administer its activities, run the overseas voting process campaign, overseas voter training, city outreach activities and international advocacy with efficiency and professionalism.
Contributors would not leave empty-handed as based on the amount pledged, they would be rewarded with, among others, Bersih goodies, a social media mention, a personally handwritten thank you note from its chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah and her predecessor Ambiga Sreenevasan, as well as a custom Zunar cartoon.
At the time of publication, the campaign had amassed 1,430 Swiss francs or around RM5,810. The coalition is calling for more donations before the campaign ends on Sept 9.
The coalition also said that they plan to persuade the international community into pressuring the Malaysian government for the implementation of electoral reforms.
“Geneva was chosen because of the presence of the United Nations European headquarters and more specifically, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“As all major players and international forums are held in Geneva, it makes it convenient for Global Bersih to carry out its international advocacy work on behalf of Bersih 2.0.”