“This is important as some reform measures such as cleaning up the existing electoral rolls, the management of elections and campaigning rules do not need further study,” Bersih chairman Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari said.
On May 24, Bersih had called on the prime minister to suspend Election Commission (EC) chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah and his deputy Othman Mahmood within the first 100 days of Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) administration.
Hashim was appointed in January 2016 but his tenure was shortened, resulting in him leaving office on July 1. The position is still vacant.
Also in May, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said PH had received many complaints of alleged cheating by the EC during the general election.
Hashim however denied such accusations, saying PH’s victory over Barisan Nasional was proof that the EC had acted in a fair and transparent manner.
Shahrul said Bersih did not want to wait another two years for the government-sanctioned Election Reform Committee (ERC) to come up with recommendations.
“These should be implemented immediately by a reformed EC in view of three by-elections having taken place and the impending Sarawak state election in 2021 or earlier,” he said.
He also urged the government to appoint a new EC chairman who was independent and enjoyed public confidence, saying this should be done as soon as possible.
Like judges, election commissioners enjoy security of tenure as they are appointed by the king after consultation with the Conference of Rulers.
Shahrul said Bersih had only learnt from media reports last week that it was one of the organisations to be represented in the ERC. He said Bersih had yet to decide whether to join other civil society representatives in the group.
He proposed that the government establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to study the problems in the May 9 polls and provide recommendations such as changing the electoral system from the first past the post system to proportionate representation or a mixed system.
“Unlike the ERC, an RCI would have the power and authority as given in the law to conduct a public inquiry and subpoena any public official to give testimony in order to find out the exact problems in GE14 and the existing electoral system,” he said.