Click Here & Upgrade Expanded Features PDF Unlimited Pages CompleteDocuments Sham Democracy: A Report on Malaysian Elections SHAM DEMOCRACY A Report on Malaysian Elections Prepared by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People’s Justice Party) 1 Click Here & Upgrade Expanded Features PDF Unlimited Pages CompleteDocuments Sham Democracy: A Report on Malaysian Elections CONTENT 1. Abbreviations 2. Foreword 3. Executive Summary 4. Issues: a) Non-Independent Election Commission b) Erosion of Democratic Space c) Manipulation of Racial Issues 5. Towards Free and Fair Elections 6. Select Bibliography 2 Click Here & Upgrade Expanded Features PDF Unlimited Pages CompleteDocuments Sham Democracy: A Report on Malaysian Elections ABBREVIATIONS BN Barisan Nasional (National Front) DAP Democratic Action Party EC Elections Commission Gerakan Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Malaysian People·s Movement Party) ISA Internal Security Act 1960 keADILan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People·s Justice Party) MCA Malaysia Chinese Association MIC Malaysia Indian Congress MP Member of Parliament PAS Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (Pan Malaysia Islamic Party) PBS Party Bersatu Sabah (Sabah United Party) PPP People·s Progressive Party RTM Radio Televisyen Malaysia Suaram Suara Rakyat Malaysia (The Voice of Malaysians) SUHAKAM Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Malaysia (Malaysian Human Rights Commission) UMNO United Malays National Organisation 3 Click Here & Upgrade Expanded Features PDF Unlimited Pages CompleteDocuments Sham Democracy: A Report on Malaysian Elections FOREWORD keADILan has been consistent since its establishment in seeking free and fair elections for Malaysia. Indeed, free and fair elections should be a basic feature of all modern states in the world. The first core principle for keADILan is ´to establish a society that is just and a nation that is democratic, progressive and unitedµ. Unfortunately in Malaysia, our elections are fraught with various abuses and weaknesses. The ruling party has sustained this democratic deficit to defend their monopoly of power. Nevertheless, the Opposition in Malaysia continues to participate in these elections, believing that Malaysia must continue to be reformed through constitutional and peaceful means. I congratulate the Central Elections Committee of keADILan for preparing this extensive report. I hope it can be a useful reference material to illustrate the many problems facing elections in Malaysia. Indeed, the report goes on to list concrete proposals for reform, which the party believes should be adopted to ensure free and fair elections in Malaysia. Dr. Wan Azizah Ismail President of keADILan Member of Parliament for Permatang Pauh September 2, 2006 4 Click Here & Upgrade Expanded Features PDF Unlimited Pages CompleteDocuments Sham Democracy: A Report on Malaysian Elections EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of a modern democracy. Democracy, at least in theory, is widely accepted throughout the world where governments are elected through elections. But in many countries, the elections are deeply defective so as to undermine democracy itself. Malaysia is one such country. On the one hand, Malaysia is a beacon of success: a multi- racial population and a robust economy led by a government elected by elections since its independence from Britain in 1957. Following the tragedy on September 11, 2001, Malaysia has become a crucial Muslim ally for the United States in the War on Terror. Nevertheless, the War on Terror is being exploited by the BN regime as a pretext to unleash a new wave of repression against their opponents. This façade of success is further undermined by a crucial fundamental flaw: the election process is neither free nor fair. We will analyse both immediate and broad factors that affect Malaysian elections. We believe that a true picture of Malaysian elections can only be provided by looking at the whole range of issues affecting the matter: § Non-independent elections commission; § Erosion of democratic space; and § Manipulation of racial issues. We will rely especially on reports of widespread abuses and irregularities during the last general election in March 2004 and the subsequent Sarawak state election. We have also discovered irregularities in the current electoral roll following an in-depth computer analysis. The sad state of the democracy in Malaysia is largely due to the fact that the ruling coalition has been in power since independence. This has blurred the separation between the ruling coalition as political organisation and the state, which academician Khoo Boo Teik noted: ´The political system is not, strictly speaking, a one-party state. But in practice over an unbroken tenure of government, BN has virtually conflated state and ruling coalition, not least in the coalition·s exercise of vast powers of incumbency. BN has at its disposal an imposing array of state resources including, generally, the command of administrative apparatuses, the control over economic resources, and the ownership and regulation of mass media.µ1 In turn, this has severely skewed the democratic process, which as a result, always returns the ruling coalition to power. This vicious cycle prevents the creation of a truly democratic 1 Khoo Boo Teik, ´Limits to Democracy: Political Economy, Ideology and Ruling Coalitionµ presented at the Workshop to Finalise Research on the Electoral System in Malaysia by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, January 24-25, 2003, p. 16. 5 Click Here & Upgrade Expanded Features PDF Unlimited Pages CompleteDocuments Sham Democracy: A Report on Malaysian Elections Malaysia. The future of Malaysian democracy rests on a willful and sustained attempt to stop this vicious cycle and overcome the democratic deficit. In addition, please refer to the 2004 keADILan report, Fraud and Rigging in the Malaysian 11th General Elections, which was supported by 227 pages of evidence. This was submitted to SUHAKAM and the Keeper of the Rulers· Seal on April 2, 2004. At the end of this report, we will present our proposals in order to achieve democratic renewal in Malaysia. We believe that Malaysians deserve to exercise their democratic rights in free and fair elections as stakeholders in the future of country. By taking best practices from democracies around the world and adapting them to the unique needs of the country, we believe it is possible that Malaysia can add an enviable election system to its list of achievements. 6 Click Here & Upgrade Expanded Features PDF Unlimited Pages CompleteDocuments Sham Democracy: A Report on Malaysian Elections A NON-INDEPENDENT ELECTIONS COMMISSION The key to free and fair elections would be an independent EC. Sadly, in Malaysia, this is not the case. EC·s role basically is to conduct elections. This includes not only administering the elections per se, but also acting as a guardian to ensure free and fair elections which include preparing a comprehensive and clean electoral roll as well as periodically reviewing and recommending changes in both federal and state electoral constituencies.2 The importance lies in its discretionary powers, and the EC has failed to exercise its discretion independently, going against the fundamentals of a modern democracy. Composition As mentioned above, the members of the EC are appointed by the King in consultation with the Conference of Rulers. In practice this means the Prime Minister ² the leader of the governing party ² has considerable influence in this appointment. Article 114 of the Federal Constitution states that individuals appointed must enjoy ´public confidenceµ. The proposal from the Reid Commission which drafted the Malaysian Constitution was far broader: the individual must enjoy ´the confidence of all democratic parties and of persons of all communitiesµ. Nevertheless, this is now balanced with certain formal requirements that meet the purpose of the Reid proposal, including recognising that members can only be removed in a method similar to a judge in the Supreme Court3. Practically, at present, members are drawn from the civil service. In effect, the members are deemed as ´safeµ by the ruling party.4 The current chairman, Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman was a civil servant all his life up to his retirement while the rest are all federal or state bureaucrats or diplomats. Abdul Rashid has in fact gone on record to admit that the absence of certain laws has made Malaysian elections unfair, as the EC is powerless in many areas to ensure a level playing field.5 The present secretary of the EC, Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor, is at present still a member of the civil service. As a result, he wears two hats, and is answerable to the Chief Secretary to the Government first before the EC! Furthermore, in election time, the returning officers who are appointed to safeguard the electoral process on polling day are government district officers. The district officers are required by convention to accompany incumbent cabinet 2 Lim Hong Hai, ´Making the Malaysian Electoral System Workµ presented at the Malaysian Electoral Reform Workshop: Advocacy and the Role of Opposition by Research for Social Advancement and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, July 22-25, 2005, p. 2. 3 Ibid., p. 4. 4 Ibid., p. 6. 5 -, ´EC Chief Says Polls Unfair« To a Certain Degreeµ, Malaysiakini, January 31, 2005, at http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/33265, accessed on August 14, 2006. 7 Click Here & Upgrade Expanded Features PDF Unlimited Pages CompleteDocuments Sham Democracy: A Report on Malaysian Elections ministers on the campaign trail as the ministers dole out various projects and approve handouts to the constituency. This is a clear illustration of conflict of interest and the appearance of bias. In addition, election officers who oversee the actual election process are also generally civil servants, i.e. government teachers. Article 115(1) allows the EC to appoint its own staff, which would be essential for it to carry out its duties. Unfortunately, EC has relied on the civil service for personnel, making it a de facto government department and further limiting its independence. Gerrymandering It is usual that there exists a disparity between popular votes and Parliamentary seats in any first-past-the-post system.