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Showing posts with label 2011 Bersih rally. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011 Bersih rally. Show all posts

Thursday 14 July 2011

Bersih rally awakening the young voters in Malaysian politics; Registration easy & simple




Awakening the young voters

ANALYSIS By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY

Pakatan Rakyat is seeking to keep the rally’s momentum going, hoping that it can be sustained until an early general election is held. 

NOW that the Bersih 2.0 rally is over, what’s in store for the divided politics of the nation? It’s a question on the minds of many Malaysians.

The Bersih 2.0 rally was a success by some measure because Pakatan Rakyat supporters braved police restrictions, roadblocks and barbed wire to gather in the city centre calling on the Government to institute electoral reform.

Their eight-point demand included issues that the opposition had been campaigning on for many years, like a clean electoral roll, reforming postal voting and a minimum of 21 days for campaigning.

These are fundamentals of a basic election system in a democratic society and few citizens would find this objectionable.

Saturday’s rally, therefore, had an unprecedented impact on society at large and on the election system, comparable to the March 8 political tsunami.

While Saturday’s rally was smaller in size compared to Bersih’s first rally in November 2007, the effects were the same – the awakening of young people to political action to rally for a basic right in defiance of the police.

In 2007, Bersih had the run of the city with huge numbers converging on the Istana to deliver a memorandum to the King.

Anwar called the 2007 Bersih rally an unqualified success.

Three months later, a general election was called that saw a loose coalition, that later became Pakatan Rakyat, winning five state governments and denying Barisan Nasional a two-thirds majority.

This time, too, Anwar is expecting an early election, probably by the fourth quarter of this year to capitalise on the Bersih 2.0 momentum.

709 pictures of the BERSIH march. Malaysians unite!

Voices from Malaysian: 
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Teoh has come a very long way from his days as an announcer on the Rediffusion private radio station before establishing himself as one of the pioneers in mobile discos. In fact, till today people still associate Teoh with his voice though he is also into the arts and theatre.

Watch and listen his Video:


By PR’s reckoning, Bersih 2.0 was a major success and big enough to wipe out the series of by-election losses they suffered in recent months and the spate of defections from PKR to BN.

The internal turmoil caused by PKR’s direct elections that also saw many people disheartened with PKR has also been eclipsed.

PR sought to keep its Bersih 2.0 momentum going by organising a large rally in Penang, a PR state, on Monday that was well-attended.

It is hoping that the momentum would be sustained until an early general election is held.

It needs to step up its criticism of BN, organise more Bersih rallies in other states and perhaps take nationwide action to keep the momentum going.

For this reason alone, it is unlikely that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would call an election this year.

He has to put some distance between the Government and the effects of the Bersih 2.0 rally.

Another reason for Najib to delay the general election is the urban voters whose preference is still with the opposition. He has to come up with imaginative programmes to win over the urban voters whose concerns are very different from the rural electorate.

Najib is also due to meet the Pope next week and hopes to establish a diplomatic relationship with the Vatican. He hopes to consolidate the Christian vote, which accounts for about 9% of the 14 million voters.

On another point, Bersih 2.0 leaders like Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan tried hard to convince Malaysians that her organisation was an independent body and was acting independently.

It is, however, abundantly clear that Bersih 2.0 was an opposition affair from start to finish.

The police handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally is also under the spotlight. Although they were heavy-handed, there was a relative absence of violence except for one death of a PKR activist that was attributed to a heart condition.

The low level of violence as a whole also limited the electoral backlash against the Government.

Therefore, it is an opportune time to release all those arrested, including the six leaders of Parti Sosialis Malaysia who have been detained under the Emergency Ordinance for allegedly reviving communism.

The Bersih 2.0 rally did not come anywhere near those in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Syria. But it will probably have an impact in the coming general election.

The rally proved its point that a large number of Malaysians can gather, despite police action, and march peacefully.

But Bersih 2.0 is unlikely to be a game changer in the way the first Bersih rally was.


Registration easy & simple

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB and RASHVINJEET S. BEDI sunday@thestar.com.my

PUTRAJAYA: Voter registration numbers have gone up significantly, thanks to efforts by political parties.
But some 40% of the new voters they have registered turned out to be ineligible.

“Some are dead, underage or already registered voters,” said Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

“We verify with the National Registration Department (NRD) those who are genuine and get rid of the names of those who are not. This makes it tiring because we have to keep checking,” he told The Star.

Despite this, he said, political parties still registered the highest number, bringing in more half of the new eligible voters.

“Compared to universities and NGOs, the voters we get from political parties are a lot more,” he said.
For May alone, 52% of new eligible voters were registered by political parties.

Twenty per cent were registered through post offices and 13% by government departments.

The EC, meanwhile, roped in 10% of the new voters through its counters and outreach programme. Universities and NGOs helped to register 3% and 2% new voters respectively.

Abdul Aziz added that the EC had appointed political parties, NGOs and universities as assistant registrars to help register new voters, paying RM1 for every clean and confirmed new voter these organisations bring in.

“If they register 1,000 new voters and only 600 are genuine, we pay them RM600,” he said. Between 2008 and 2009, there were 10 million registered voters in the country and another 4.3 million eligible voters who were not registered.

This year, the total number of registered voters increased to 12 million and eligible unregistered voters dropped to 3.7 million.

“We have made registration easy and simple. You can go to the post office, youth bodies, universities, colleges, government departments, NGOs and political parties to register,” he added.

Abdul Aziz said the Malaysian EC was the only one in the world that appointed political parties to assist in registering new voters.

He pointed out that it made sense to rope in political parties. “We appoint an average of two assistant registrars for each state seat. And because they have an interest, they work very hard to register new voters.

“When we do the voter registration ourselves, the response is not very good. We go to events like TV3's Jom Heboh to register new voters but it is difficult for people to come forward.

“This has to do with attitude. People ask what benefit they get by registering as voters. Some people do not have the spirit. They ask what happens if they don't register and when they find out no action is taken, they leave it as it is. Only those who really love the country and would like to choose their own leaders would voluntarily go and register as voters.”

Abdul Aziz also advised the people to vote in their current place of residence as this was stipulated in the law. This would also resolve the issue of phantom voters, where voters allegedly stay in a different place from where they cast their vote.

He said people should not feel attachment to their hometown and balik kampung to cast their votes.
“If I stay in Shah Alam, I shouldn't go back to Penang or my hometown to vote,” he said.

He estimated that about 30% to 40% of Malaysians voted in a different place or state than where they lived.

“I have no power to force them to vote where they live. I can only explain and persuade them,” he added.

Sunday 10 July 2011

Would Malaysians learn lessons from Bersih 2.0 rally?




Lessons to be learnt for all

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB sunday@thestar.com.my

If Bersih's true intentions were for electoral reforms, it would have been better for it to engage both Barisan and Pakatan than take to the streets.

AT a mamak stall behind Hotel Midah opposite Merdeka Stadium, police and FRU teams deployed in the area took turns having a hearty breakfast of roti canai and teh tarik.

It was only 8am and they were in good spirits.

Others sealed off the road to the stadium with razor wire and blocked off a number of roads to prevent Bersih 2.0 protesters from converging.

This was also the scene at a number of areas encircling the city.

The Police and FRU were on full alert around Central Market, Masjid Jamek, Dataran Merdeka, the National Mosque, Sogo, and Petaling Street, among other spots.

They even searched the bags of some commuters getting off at the Masjid Jamek LRT station and took away those whom they suspected of being protesters.

At that time it seemed like the heart of the city been successfully cordoned off and protesters would not be able to get anywhere close.

Shops were shuttered and only a few people seemed to be walking about.

At 11am, even Perlis PAS commissioner (and former PKR secretary-general) Mohd Anuar Tahir, who had come from Perlis to join the protest, didn’t seem so sure how far it could go because of the heavy police presence and road blocks.

Standing inconspicuously outside a 7-11 outlet along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, a short distance from Masjid Jamek, Anuar watched police as they combed the area for Bersih protesters.

“Even if we don’t reach Merdeka Stadium, I think the protest is already successful. The way they (the police) have shut down the city shows they are afraid. And the publicity given to us has been so huge.

“Even the Agong, by meeting Bersih, has given great recognition to us,” he said before moving away.
Bersih is demanding electoral reforms for free and fair elections.

The Government, though, has accused Bersih of ulterior motives, saying it is trying to topple the elected Barisan Nasional government through street demonstrations and unlawful means – something which Bersih denies.

The government has also outlawed Bersih and the yellow Bersih T-shirts.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has also said that even though the Agong met with Bersih 2.0 leaders, the movement remains illegal and outlawed, and told people to stay away from the protest or risk being detained.

And yesterday, it appeared that tens of thousands were still willing to take the risk.

At about 12.45pm – despite the city lock-down and stringent checks – groups of protesters managed to converge and march.

Suddenly, people showed up from all corners and their numbers grew very quickly.

One of the first groups marched near Central Market to Leboh Pasar Besar towards Dataran Merdeka where the FRU team and its trucks were waiting.



After ringing the bell and giving protesters three warnings to disperse immediately, the FRU then fired tear gas into the crowd, forcing protesters to scramble and take cover.

But all this did was to make the protesters move away and regroup elsewhere.

One group headed towards Merdeka Stadium while another was in Petaling Street and heading towards Central Market chanting “Reformasi” and “Bersih, Bersih” before tear gas forced them again to disperse.

A particularly boisterous group, some in Bersih T-shirts, some carrying yellow balloons and yellow flowers, marched to Jalan Pudu near Puduraya and again their numbers quickly grew.

Again the police fired rounds of tear gas to disperse the group. Some ran into a restaurant to wash their stinging eyes and to seek shelter.

The rain didn’t stop the protesters either. They continued to regroup, and more tear gas was fired.
Some protesters even caught the tear gas canisters and flung them back at the police.

“I was caught in between,” said a policeman whose eyes were red from the tear gas.

At one point, PKR leader and Subang MP R. Sivarasa together with Perak DAP leader Ngeh Koo Ham, who both wore Bersih T-shirts, came forward to negotiate with the police. They asked that the protesters be allowed to march a short distance along Jalan Pudu towards Jalan Sultan.

“We have no intention of fighting with the police. We will be disciplined and just walk a short distance,” he said, as the police seemed to agree.

But a short while later, as Sivarasa and Ngeh led the protesters, the police detained the two.

A number of opposition leaders and Bersih 1.0 leaders were also picked up. Some, including Bersih chairman Datuk S. Ambiga, were detained but all were later released.

As Sivarasa was being led away, he said that as far he was concerned, Bersih 2.0 had achieved far more than it had hoped for.

For Sabah Barisan Nasional secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahalan, Bersih 2.0 has clearly been hijacked by Pakatan Rakyat.

“If I were Ambiga, I wouldn’t go near (Opposition leader) (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim. But here, you have Ambiga and Anwar having joint press conferences.

“And the protesters were shouting ‘Reformasi’ instead of ‘Bersih’,” he said in reference to the “Reformasi” chant by protesters when Anwar was sacked as deputy Prime Minister and deputy Umno president.

Rahman said he personally agrees with some of the electoral reforms that Bersih 2.0 has been seeking, including fairer coverage in the mainstream media, but he wishes things had been done differently.

He believes if Ambiga had gone on her own strength as the former Bar Council chairman to seek for electoral reforms and distanced herself from “elements of politics” including Anwar and PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, she might have even received support from Barisan Nasional.

“Ambiga might have a good cause but I am a bit upset with the way she is going about it. She doesn’t even try to engage the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC),” he said.

If the intention was for electoral reforms, he said, then Ambiga should have engaged both Barisan and Pakatan while remaining impartial.

“She could have approached us and talked it over coffee. Have they (Bersih 2.0) tried to convince BNBBC? I agree that there are certain things that can be improved in the elections. For this, they (Bersih) should play it right (and engage all),” he said.

He also said that asking for “free and fair” elections is also too provocative because it suggests that the Government in power is illegitimate.

“You call them illegitimate and expect pleasantries?”

He added that Bersih 2.0 also should not have abandoned talks with the Election Commission.

Rahman, who is Kota Belud MP, also stressed that in the three years he has been in Parliament, Pakatan MPs have never once attempted to seek to amend the Election Act to improve the system.

As for yesterday’s Bersih rally, Rahman said he is confused as to whether it was for electoral reforms or the right to assemble. There are lessons learnt too for Barisan.

Rahman said he is disappointed with the Election Commission (SPR) for not being able to answer allegations made against it in a way that the ordinary people would understand.

He is also disappointed with interviews on TV1, TV2 and TV3 where they do not address probing questions to the SPR chairman, he added.

“I was cringing when I heard the interview. The host is playing a pro-government stance and putting people off by not asking hard questions.”

He also said SPR needs a good spokesman to answer questions about the elections that have been raised by the opposition.

Be it on the streets, programmes, projects or the ballot boxes, both Barisan and Pakatan will continue to fight for the hearts and minds of Malaysians.

The decision will probably be known only in the next general election.