BN landslide victory - 57 ~: 3 lndependentr., 2 ~.s ....$1. .-IJI!... he e,·idence re' eaJs that some persons had For the first time in Malaysian history, a court bas nul­ set into motion the Lified an election result becatL~e of extensive vote-buy· wheel of fate and bad chained ing. In declaring the result void, the judge effectively voters to it and this wheel had stripped the rulingBarisan Nasiopal coMtion of its Bukit crushed, and is going to bee' er­ Begunan state; ~eat in Sarawak. A by-eJection will now turning and crushing virtues b:e held on 15-16 March. In our cover story, ~BANG unless stopped in its track. It is BENET calls for urgent reforms to election laws and fortuoate that the \toters in this for a revamp of the Election Commission to curb un­ case, at least those that we kno" ethical campllign practices. of, had broken lhemselns free from this chain and came to court to testify for the~ have realised that this is no wheel of j fortune. not like the char iot : driven by Nemesis, but a wheel of fate set into motion by the likes of Loki that crushed vir­ tues, espoused vices and spawned untold problems . •••One way to stop this wheel is to pre~nt any spoil resulting from employing this wheel trom being enjoyed. That I ha' e done by declaring this election void." (Justice Ian Chin 1 JUDICIAL HISTORY MADE••• With these words.judil:1al hi was made on 13 Februcil) Aliran M omhly 1997: 1 7(11 Page 2 ~.o:u<:CTION BRffiERY EXPOSED RA\1IDTU \11 f'IICLLC \TI~C INTOLERENCE CONTRADICTIO~ IN 1\ffi'S VERSION BUILDING DEMOCRACY ... NURTURING ALTERNATIVE VIEWS NOTHJNG SINISTER PARANOIA & SYCOPHANCY DEVELOPMENT, DEMOCRACY &ASEAN NGOS LEITERS II Layout and (;raphl< b) ut~r St)ler tmp...,;s!oa 62, bl tloor, Wisml Sa,. Khaw U.n. CURRENT CONCERNS IS l'•ogkalan \\dd. IOJOO Pulau l'lnon~. \l•l•}~lo. THINKJNG Al.I,OWED L9 f'rl : MM-2612377 I'AX: 1104·2622.l76 I tJ7'71&'Jf:S b) RP Prinws '-nd. BIKI. 18 Print«! 66.68 & 10 Jalan ALr ream SUBSCRIPTION 25 10460 Pulau Plnan.:, \lalar!ila. Ttl : 604 • 22655-16 l'n: 604 • 227116-l Aliran is a Malaysian non-governmental organisation li~t~d on the ro~ter of the Economic and Socia.l Council of the United Nauon~. Guided by universal spmtual values. Aliran stnvcs for genuine unity by promoting Published by AU ran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN) social justice and human dignity. Membership b open to 12, Jalao Pao:tai Azi:t lbrabim, all Malaysiaru, above 21. If you arc interested in joining 11900 Pulau Pinang. \bla:\ia. IPO!.U&I Address: P 0 Box 1049, Aliran, please contact the Hon Secretary at the addre~s 10830 Pulau Pinang. Mala~sia.) shown in this page. rel / l'ax : 604 • 6415785 The High Court in Sri Aman First, Donald alleged that Mong First, Ju<tice Chin made it clear I (sitting as an Election Court) de­ or his agents had resorted to that the authorities need to re\ 1ew clared the election result for a vote-buying by giving cash to a lacuna in the law on election state seat in the Sarawak spending: although the elections last September candidates themselves did void. The Bukit Begunan "WHEN PEOPLE GIVE, I TAKE....• not exceed the spending seat bad been won by limit. othen; did so on Mong Dagang of the rul- WitDtss Deru Mahlngau, one of the reg­ their behalf. ing Barisan Nasional istered voters in the Bukit BegUnao con­ coalition. The court ntled stituency,said he did notknowthatjtwas A quick scrutiny of the that the eJection had been an offence to accept money from eJection facts in the Bukit "affected by extensively campaigners. Bcgunan case. as well as prevalent bribery." Deru who admitted tak.lng money alleg­ from other sources. illus­ edly offered (RM20) ~"I cUd not steal; trates this point. Mong. a The court decision sur­ there were poUcemen arouDd so wbeD former bank officer and prised many who had people gi~ I take the money". an electoral first-timer. ··-They told us to vote ror BN and cnl8Sed come to accept the liberal hardly had the personal my palm." use of money and other resources to buy \'Otes on (Borneo Post, 28/1/97) promises of "development a large scale. projects" during e lection campaigns as an Similar)). the three per­ unsavoury fact of I ife. voters in the area. The court sons found guilt) of bribery under beard evidence relating to a the Election Offence'> Act 1954, Before the judgement. the un­ Barisan-organised function in Philimon ~uing fa Parti Bansa canny disappearance of a key wit­ Lachau bazaar on 5 September Da)ak Sarawak "upreme council ness during the trial generated 1996.lt also heard about another member and Sebiro Air Sef\ ice:. much excitement. Even stranger incident the next day when a Sdn Bhd director). Gan Kiang was the almost nonchalant attitude Tuai Rumah (Headman) in Sri Seng (a helicopter pilot). and Palus of many Sarawak.ians towards the Aman was approached to dis- Anak Angob arc not wealthy disappearance of the witness. It tribute money to voters in his people -though collectively they showed bow cynically indifferent longhouse to secure votes for may have had access to some re­ they towards money po)jtics. Mong.. ~ources. Reports indicate that they were just acting as mere distribu­ The case, which lasted five days, The second allegation concerned tors of money in Lacbau rather than proved the existence of what Mong·s election spending. The as financiers. many local political analysts court ruled that Mong himself had contend is an epidemic that has not spent more than the RM30.000 And, yet, opposition leader Lim been growing in Sarawak since limit for a state seat and was thus Kit Siang claimed in a press state­ the mid-70s. Even De puly eligible to re-contcst in the by­ ment that a public estimate indi­ Sarawak Chief Minister George election on 15- 16 March .. cated that the spending at Bukit Chan admits that "money ·poli­ REVIEW Begunan was "60 times the legal tics bad infected the state" and ELECTORAL LAWS limit of RM30,000". Thus. the acknowledged that the problem question: who forked onr the was now quite obvious. Central to Lhc judgement on the money to bankroll Moog's election Bukit Begunan court case is a call campaign and to bribe voters in the The case focused on two main al­ for a sub:c;tantive review of area? legations made by Donald La wan, Malaysia's election laws an<L ipso the losing "independent" candi­ facto, the Election Commission's Court evidence showed thai Sng date in Bukit Begunan. role. Chee Hua, a PBDS \'Ice-president. Aliran Monthly 1997: 17(1) Page 4 between RM300,000-RM500,000 per constituency"! The Election Commission needs more clout and independence to deal with caretaker government politicians who do not distinguish between government and party re­ sources. These politicians think nothing of using the people's money to advance their sectarian party agendas. If the Electton Commission and the police were alert to vote-buying, couldn't they themselves have Donald Lawan : DejeaJed in the polls, win~ in court hauled alleged offenders to court was responsible for financing Begunan case only highlights how rather than wait for third parties to Mong's air transport expenses ill-equipped the Commission is in do so? One witness in court, Deru during the campaign. It wac; noted dealing with increasingly sophls­ Marangau, for instance, alleged in court that Sng spent RM24,300 ticaLed methods of election spend­ that police were present atLachau in renting a helicopter for Mong' s ing. Bazaar on 5 September when cash campaign. Sng, the state assembly was being distributed. If they were member for Pelagus, is a timber The Election Commission is emas­ indeed present, the police could tycoon and owner of Scbiro Atr culated because it is not truly in­ have acted decisively to safeguard Services SdnBbd. He also makes dependent. It fears taking action the sanctity of the electoral pro­ regular and sizeable frnancial con­ against politicians who may rum cess. But perhaps even they were tributions to his party. out to be itc; political masters in under the impression that handing government out cao;h during campaigns was an Local political analysts acknowl­ accepted practice. edge that Moog's campaign wao; The Commission needs to be re­ "NEFARIOUS" TACTICS flagging badly in its early stages vamped. It has to be given more until Sng appeared on the scene explicitly defined powers to make The handout tactics used in Bukit and re-organised it for him. it more independent so that it can Begunan reveal how the whole respond to highly-sophisticated democratic eleclOraJ process is be­ Although Mong himself was methods of vote-buying. espe­ ing subverted not only in Bukit cleared of overspending, Justice cially in rural areas. Only then can Begun an, but perhaps also in other Chin conceded that the court was it live up to its mandate of ensur­ parts or the country. powerless to address the issue of ing free and fair elections in the other people paying for or con­ country. These "nefarious activities" have tributing to some of Mong' s cam­ been going on for so long now that paign expenses on his behalf. Unless the Commission's hands rural folk in Sarawak today actu­ are strengthened. statutory spend­ ally expect to receive money in ex­ Our existing electoral laws arc ing limit<; will remain meaningless.