The interests on the
by-election in Port Dickson can be about the political, that is, how much
mandate could Anwar get from the local electorates to push for his Prime
Ministerial ambition. And also, in a longer term, about election conduct or
fairness standards for instance irrespective of who win in an election, can it
be obtained without abusing government/public facilities? That Anwar the
candidate and PM-in-waiting reportedly promised to stay away from abusing
government facilities –he actually claim this by-election to be the 1st
election where government facilities will not be abused, focus considerable
attention on the challenge!
Now that the by-election has
come to an end, did Anwar keep his promise? Regrettably there are
well-documented reports from credible observers that there were numerous
instances where government facilities were indeed abused to advantage Anwar the
candidate! This does not cast doubt on his capacity to pull off a victory
otherwise, but simply means that we are still facing a future where our
election system, while unreformed, is open to such abuses and its integrity is
less than even how a regular football game is refereed!
A) Anwar attended an Army camp function organized by the
Defense Minister where none of the other candidates can access; The episode
exposed the weakness of the current relationship between the EC and the various
government departments and agencies whose cooperation is needed to realize fair
elections; Can the EC’s constitutionally mandated authority to run the election
be respected by all government departments such that the cooperation is not
voluntary but mandatory? In this instance the Army camp decided in a seemingly
partisan or unfair way to close the army camps to all other candidates, giving
Anwar the sole opportunity to show his face to the assembled army personnel or voters!
B) Anwar reportedly admit that he took a ride on the vehicle
of the Defense Minister in order to speak to him. Can all other candidates use
the same excuse to speak to the Defense Minister? It appear that Anwar consider
it his privilege to (ab)use the government vehicle, just sufficient to justify
it with some personal excuse. This issue, while taken up by the press, has not
attracted the EC’s response-giving the impression that politicians who knows
government officers in an election, can justifiably ride on the officer’s or a
government vehicle to show off his or her government connection?
C) Anwar has also been spotted to have re-packaged an online
tuition software originally produced by the Perak Education Department, as his
offer to the voters in the PD by-election. Why is he allowed to (ab)use a
government’s education asset as his campaign gimmick?
D) Transport Minister Anthony Loke reportedly announced a RM10k
allocation for a temple in Port Diction during campaign period, blatantly
calculated to induce voters to vote for the candidate backed by the ruling
party! Such allocation or otherwise known as pork-barreling politics, is
legally prohibited in many countries such as in the Philippines.
E) The public media controlled by the government, by all
account, did not give equitable coverage to all the 7 candidates contesting in
the PD by-election, especially on what they stood for. This gave advantage to
the more prominent candidate whose every move is given free publicity. Why the
media cannot organize public debates so that all candidates are given equitable
opportunity to state their stands on issues of concern, and, for once, engaged
in public policies debates, on the by-election? Why Anwar the candidate, known
for his oratory prowess, did not offer himself for a public debate with all the
other candidates-as practiced in all respectable democratic elections? Without
a public debate that allow the voters to question all the candidates the voters
are deprived of a all-rounded knowledge of the candidates to make an informed
and rational choice-which basically continue the previous patterns where
elections could be won by sheer strength of the party machineries owned by the
dominant or ruling parties.
While the abuses of government
facilities were captured by the media there was no prompt mechanism to stop
them in the act. Commendably some public’s criticisms had managed to stall some
government functions during the election campaign period in Port Dickson, but
others, such as mentioned above, were carried on irrespective. Worst Anwar has
reportedly rejected the EC and Bersih’s limited criticisms of his election
conduct as `too much’, which is supported by ex-Bersih Chair Maria Chin, who
reportedly asked for more leeway for candidates to approach voters.
EC had, in the past, except in
the early years, been subjugated by the ruling party to the extent that its
claim of independence was sneered at by all observers, local or international.
Put in this context, was Anwar’s admonition of the EC, meant to put this
supposedly autonomous statutory body, back to its subjugated status as in the
BN’s days? Such rejection of the role of the referee while he or she is just
doing his or her mandated job, amount to an abuse that, in football terms,
should be given a yellow card-1 step before expulsion from the field!
In view of the fact that the
above well documented clear-cut abuses of government facilities could not be
stopped-while admittedly not as blatantly done as under the previous
government, we call upon the EC to institute reforms of the EC operation to
introduce mechanism for prompt redress during elections, including mechanism or
laws to command compliance from all government departments to stop abuse of
government facilities by any candidates, especially candidates from the ruling
parties. We wish to start from the PD by-election to tell all candidates from
ruling parties, never again abuse government/public facilities in your party or
private campaign! The people are watching you!
Malaysian Election Observers Network (MEO-Net) *
Agora Society **
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