It said the functions of the EC should be split into three separate entities, with the formation of an Electoral Enforcement Commission (EEC) and an Electoral Borders Commission (EBC), on top of the EC.
The existing laws and structure of the EC, it said, had made it susceptible to abuse and manipulation.
“The structure of the EC is designed in such a way that its independence can be compromised when the time comes.
“The law in itself would be prone to abuse and manipulation. We cannot rely on the goodwill of the people we have there,” said Bersih researcher Chan Tsu Chong, who presented a report, titled “Three is Better Than One: Institutional Reforms for Electoral Management in Malaysia”, today.
Chan said the EC would still be responsible for conducting elections, including managing voter registration and maintenance of the electoral roll.
The EEC, meanwhile, would be in charge of monitoring and enforcing electoral laws, including regulating the political parties.
During elections, this would translate into more direct roles such as taking action against violence, ballot fraud, vote-buying and others.
“Outside of the election period, this body should be in charge of the registration of political parties. One of the things we would need for this is a Political Parties Act,” he said.
He said EBC should be an ad hoc entity to review and fix the limits of electoral boundaries.
Chan said all three commissions should have seven members each from relevant backgrounds.
He said an Electoral Commission Nomination Committee (ECNC) should also be set up to appoint the members of the three commissions. The ECNC should have eight representatives from the three branches of government and experts from legally constituted bodies.
They would include the prime minister, the opposition leader, the chairman and a ranking government member of the parliamentary select committee on electoral matters, the chief justice, the Suhakam chairman, the Bar Council president, and a civil society representative with knowledge or practical expertise in electoral matters.
Chan said they would replace the existing system where members of the EC are appointed arbitrarily by the prime minister and the executive.
Elaborating on the proposal, Bersih 2.0 said members of the EC should be individuals held in public confidence. They should also not be bankrupt, not MPs or assemblymen, or outside paid officers.
It said the EEC should consist of the inspector-general of police, the chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the attorney-general and four members with formal qualifications and experience in law enforcement or electoral matters, with at least two of them coming from civil society.
The EBC, meanwhile, should comprise of a Federal Court judge, a member of the EC, a member of the EEC, the director-general of the Department of Survey and Mapping, the chief statistician and two members with formal qualifications and experience in elections, statistics or geography.
Chan said important reforms must be carried out to set up the three commissions, such as permitting the EC to allow other agencies such as the Road Transport Department, the immigration or the Inland Revenue Board to update the electoral roll.
The setting up of the EEC would also require the enactment of a Political Parties and Financing Act.
For the EBC, he recommended amendments to the 13th schedule of the Federal Constitution, to state that the executive and Parliament cannot amend or veto the commission’s final decision of delimitation.
EC deputy chairman Azmi Sharom said during the forum, the three-commission system could be one of the ways to reform elections in the country.
He said, however, that there would need to be various amendments to the Federal Constitution.