who the fuck are you Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz to say the opposition cannot insist on electoral reforms before the next general election
The opposition cannot insist on electoral reforms before the next general election, says Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz
Our biggest enemy today is cynicism. We have lost faith in our ability to change our lives. Anna is the answer to that. This small, frail man in a Gandhi cap may or may not appeal to all of us. We are a vast nation. Each of us eats, lives, dreams, prays differently. Each of us has our own vision of what India can or should be.
But this is the right time to set aside our differences and stand together against corruption. And against those who defend it under a million pretexts. It's time to stand beside Anna and prove that when it comes to protecting India, we are all ready to fight the good fight. The war against corruption may or may not be winnable. But we can at least expose those who are destroying this nation. We can make them squirm.
Change is not a road map. It is the first stone we chuck against our oppressors.
PRIME Minister Najib Razak is suddenly so generous in calling for electoral reform. He has even called for the establishment of a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to look into this. While it is still premature to say whether this will ensure effective participation by the Opposition in the process, it is nonetheless a radical change from his previous stubborn position against Bersih 2.0’s demands for free and fair elections.
As with much of Malaysian politics, there is probably more to all this than what appears on the surface. Najib must have been comforted by some assurance of electoral victory – and possibly a landslide one – before he would allow himself to accede to an initiative begun by Bersih 2.0. Otherwise, he would be seen to be weak by his own party, Umno, which no doubt would have players in the wings with knives behind their backs.
One hopes this assurance of certain victory does not involve giving illegal immigrants the right to vote. In light of Wanita PKR’s revelation that it has evidence of illegal immigrants taking an oath to vote for BN, this is disturbing.
That’s putting it mildly. For nothing could be so heinous on the part of our government, indeed any government, than to sell the country to foreigners just for the purpose of staying on in power. Such a move of granting citizenships to immigrants overnight would also be extremely unfair to the many who have lived in this country for decades and continue to hold red ICs. But above all, it is the sinister motive that makes it inexcusable.
Talk has indeed been rife for the past few months that a project of this sinister nature is already in the works. More suspicions were raised when the Election Commission (EC) announced it would use the biometric system to identify voters as this is the system also being used by the Government in its 6P amnesty program to register foreign workers as well as illegal immigrants. Opposition politicians are especially worried that those not qualified to vote could in the process get registered as voters. The illegal immigrants that Wanita PKR says were made to swear an oath of allegiance to Umno/BN are allegedly from the 6P amnesty program.
This sort of tactic, together with the granting of citizenships to new immigrants, has supposedly been used in Project M (also known as Project IC) in Sabah when Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister, so that the demographic and voting patterns would favor BN and entrench it as the ruling regime there. If this is being repeated now, it would reaffirm BN’s ruthless tendency to stoop to underhand tactics to serve its own cause, without any regard for the people.
There is also the possibility that Najib’s call for the setting-up of a PSC is merely a public relations ploy, in light of what Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has said in response – that it would take a year before the committee can conclude discussions.
If Najib had prior knowledge of that before making his announcement, then his move counts for nothing. The next general election (GE) may very well be called soon, less than a year from now. Which means it may be held prior to the electoral reform. Which means it may be held with the shortcomings of the current system still intact. How can that be satisfactory?
If doing it via the PSC takes too long, even though Najib still has one and a half years left before calling for fresh polls, then another method must be sought.
For example, on the pressing and crucial issue of cleaning the electoral roll, which has been found to be full of dirt and discrepancies, Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan has suggested this: “Set up a committee, give it three months and let’s just clean it up.” Why not take this suggestion up? The committee could be made up of the EC, BN and Pakatan Rakyat representatives, the Bar Council and Bersih 2.0.
A few other issues can also be addressed through stakeholder discussions that could take only a matter of a few months.
One is the debate on Bersih 2.0’s advocacy for the use of indelible ink versus the EC’s proposal to use the biometric system.
Another is the debate over the length of the campaign period. Bersih 2.0 is asking for a minimum of 21 days but the EC has been giving excuses against it. In the 1959 and 1964 GEs, the campaign period was as long as 35 days, and for the one in 1969, it was 28 days. A reasonable length of time is needed to let voters acquaint themselves with the candidates and their promises, but Najib has scoffed at the idea that a short campaign period is a disadvantage to the Opposition, claiming that Pakatan Rakyat campaigns “every day… with a ceramah here and a ceramah there”. He, however, ignores the fact that his own ruling party gets to campaign day in day out on a much larger scale through the mass media it controls.
Even during the campaign period, the ruling party has almost total access to the print and broadcasting media. Prior to the 1999 GE, Opposition parties were given at least a bit of airtime on RTM’s radio stations to broadcast their manifestoes. But in 1999, the Government announced that as RTM was Government-owned, preference would be given to government parties. Since then, no Opposition party has been heard on the air.
It is for this reason that one of Bersih 2.0’s demands is the granting of free and fair access to the media to all political parties. As the ruling party becomes merely a caretaker government when a general election is in progress, it should not hog the media facilities but instead open them up to all political parties, including the Opposition. Resolving this issue through discussion should also not take long.
Neither should the issue of reforming postal voting.
Whatever the process adopted to ensure that electoral reform is achieved, it is imperative that it be completed before the 13th GE. If Najib is truly sincere about reform, if his statements that “we will only want to form a government if the rakyat truly chooses Barisan Nasional” and that “I do not want to be prime minister without the people’s support” are to be believed, he should make a pledge not to call for the 13th GE until the reform has been effected.
And while all this is going on, let’s not forget that Bersih 2.0 is still considered illegal, after Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein declared it so last month. He should now admit that if it had not been for Bersih 2.0’s insistence on electoral reform, embodied in its eight demands and publicly vented in its July 9 mass rally, we would not have arrived at this point.
Hishammuddin should admit that Bersih 2.0 has demonstrated the power that civil society can have to pressure the ruling party to re-examine its stand. He should also note that the Deputy Speaker has now actually said, that as electoral reform is a matter of great importance to the public interest, “It is best we discuss it in-depth and involve all stakeholders including Bersih, NGOs, the Bar Council and civil society.”
If no less than the Deputy Speaker of Parliament has expressed recognition of Bersih 2.0, isn’t it about time that Hishammuddin revoked his order against the group?
The ways of our Government often perplex me. When inflation cripples us, they simply look away or offer silly reasons for doing nothing. What's worse, just to make the point that they don't have to listen to our protests, they raise fuel prices eleven times in quick succession. When corruption corrodes our society and destroys our lives, the Government goes into denial till the Supreme Court or our UMNO intervenes and forces it to act. It then acts reluctantly, grumbling about judicial over reach or why UMNO has no business pointing out NO corruption when its responsibilities don't go beyond book keeping. Even when it comes to terrorism and organised crime, the Government is always late to respond. But when it comes to acting tough against its own citizens, they are quick, very quick. No Supreme Court, needs to intervene. You can see they are having a lot of fun being nasty.
Any electoral reform should be to ENSURE that elections are held FAIRLY and CLEANLY. so that the results reflect CORRECTLY the Democratic choice of the people. It should be to correct any errors present in the system. It shouldn't be just to 'satisfy' any one group of people According to The Malaysian Insider, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is moving to the centre and trying to put some distance between himself and hardliners like Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein.
Take the case of Anna Hazare.
Anna is just another common citizen like you and I. Except that unlike some of us he has lived a somewhat uncomplicated, exemplary life. He has also tried to bring in change at the grass root level, which has put him in open conflict with some of our wickedest political leaders who have done their best to crush him. But Anna has been obstinate. No amount of bullying has intimidated him. Nor have his adversaries managed to hurt his credibility despite floating many ugly rumours about his trust and his personal integrity.
That is why, when India was so desperately looking for someone to lead civil society in its protest against what is undoubtedly the most corrupt Government we have ever had, Anna was an obvious choice. No, he did not start the anti-corruption campaign. Thousands of ordinary Indians did. You and I did. And Anna emerged as the face of the movement. Just as the Janlokpal Bill became its focus.
The question is no longer: Is the Janlokpal Bill perfect? Millions think it is. The Government says no. But that's not moot any more. The people of India have coalesced around the Bill because they see it as an answer to a problem that is killing them every day. Corruption not only hurts the poor; it hurts and humiliates us all today. Whoever we may be, whatever we may be doing it is no longer possible to do anything without paying bribes to the political class and its minions in the bureaucracy. Even the business community, often accused of being blind to corruption, is now sick of being constantly harassed and extorted by the very leaders they bankroll to fight the elections.
So the question is not: Is Anna Hazare the best leader to fight this war against corruption? The question is also not: Is the Janlokpal Bill the ideal weapon to fight the war with? It's not even the cynical question: Can the war ever be won? The question today is: Shall we let this opportunity pass? Suddenly we find that the whole nation has quietly and unobtrusively come together to take a stand against corruption and Anna, for better or for worse, is the face of the struggle. Shall we let this opportunity go or should we seize it? That's the real question. And India has already answered it.Forget Anna Hazare. The Jan Lokpal movement can go to hell for all I care. Let us just look at the issues over which the battle between the Government and us citizens is being fought. And then let’s decide where we want to stand, each one of us, on the issue of corruption.
The opposition cannot insist on electoral reforms before the next general election, says Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz
Our biggest enemy today is cynicism. We have lost faith in our ability to change our lives. Anna is the answer to that. This small, frail man in a Gandhi cap may or may not appeal to all of us. We are a vast nation. Each of us eats, lives, dreams, prays differently. Each of us has our own vision of what India can or should be.
But this is the right time to set aside our differences and stand together against corruption. And against those who defend it under a million pretexts. It's time to stand beside Anna and prove that when it comes to protecting India, we are all ready to fight the good fight. The war against corruption may or may not be winnable. But we can at least expose those who are destroying this nation. We can make them squirm.
Change is not a road map. It is the first stone we chuck against our oppressors.
PRIME Minister Najib Razak is suddenly so generous in calling for electoral reform. He has even called for the establishment of a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to look into this. While it is still premature to say whether this will ensure effective participation by the Opposition in the process, it is nonetheless a radical change from his previous stubborn position against Bersih 2.0’s demands for free and fair elections.
As with much of Malaysian politics, there is probably more to all this than what appears on the surface. Najib must have been comforted by some assurance of electoral victory – and possibly a landslide one – before he would allow himself to accede to an initiative begun by Bersih 2.0. Otherwise, he would be seen to be weak by his own party, Umno, which no doubt would have players in the wings with knives behind their backs.
One hopes this assurance of certain victory does not involve giving illegal immigrants the right to vote. In light of Wanita PKR’s revelation that it has evidence of illegal immigrants taking an oath to vote for BN, this is disturbing.
That’s putting it mildly. For nothing could be so heinous on the part of our government, indeed any government, than to sell the country to foreigners just for the purpose of staying on in power. Such a move of granting citizenships to immigrants overnight would also be extremely unfair to the many who have lived in this country for decades and continue to hold red ICs. But above all, it is the sinister motive that makes it inexcusable.
Talk has indeed been rife for the past few months that a project of this sinister nature is already in the works. More suspicions were raised when the Election Commission (EC) announced it would use the biometric system to identify voters as this is the system also being used by the Government in its 6P amnesty program to register foreign workers as well as illegal immigrants. Opposition politicians are especially worried that those not qualified to vote could in the process get registered as voters. The illegal immigrants that Wanita PKR says were made to swear an oath of allegiance to Umno/BN are allegedly from the 6P amnesty program.
This sort of tactic, together with the granting of citizenships to new immigrants, has supposedly been used in Project M (also known as Project IC) in Sabah when Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister, so that the demographic and voting patterns would favor BN and entrench it as the ruling regime there. If this is being repeated now, it would reaffirm BN’s ruthless tendency to stoop to underhand tactics to serve its own cause, without any regard for the people.
There is also the possibility that Najib’s call for the setting-up of a PSC is merely a public relations ploy, in light of what Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has said in response – that it would take a year before the committee can conclude discussions.
If Najib had prior knowledge of that before making his announcement, then his move counts for nothing. The next general election (GE) may very well be called soon, less than a year from now. Which means it may be held prior to the electoral reform. Which means it may be held with the shortcomings of the current system still intact. How can that be satisfactory?
If doing it via the PSC takes too long, even though Najib still has one and a half years left before calling for fresh polls, then another method must be sought.
For example, on the pressing and crucial issue of cleaning the electoral roll, which has been found to be full of dirt and discrepancies, Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan has suggested this: “Set up a committee, give it three months and let’s just clean it up.” Why not take this suggestion up? The committee could be made up of the EC, BN and Pakatan Rakyat representatives, the Bar Council and Bersih 2.0.
A few other issues can also be addressed through stakeholder discussions that could take only a matter of a few months.
One is the debate on Bersih 2.0’s advocacy for the use of indelible ink versus the EC’s proposal to use the biometric system.
Another is the debate over the length of the campaign period. Bersih 2.0 is asking for a minimum of 21 days but the EC has been giving excuses against it. In the 1959 and 1964 GEs, the campaign period was as long as 35 days, and for the one in 1969, it was 28 days. A reasonable length of time is needed to let voters acquaint themselves with the candidates and their promises, but Najib has scoffed at the idea that a short campaign period is a disadvantage to the Opposition, claiming that Pakatan Rakyat campaigns “every day… with a ceramah here and a ceramah there”. He, however, ignores the fact that his own ruling party gets to campaign day in day out on a much larger scale through the mass media it controls.
Even during the campaign period, the ruling party has almost total access to the print and broadcasting media. Prior to the 1999 GE, Opposition parties were given at least a bit of airtime on RTM’s radio stations to broadcast their manifestoes. But in 1999, the Government announced that as RTM was Government-owned, preference would be given to government parties. Since then, no Opposition party has been heard on the air.
It is for this reason that one of Bersih 2.0’s demands is the granting of free and fair access to the media to all political parties. As the ruling party becomes merely a caretaker government when a general election is in progress, it should not hog the media facilities but instead open them up to all political parties, including the Opposition. Resolving this issue through discussion should also not take long.
Neither should the issue of reforming postal voting.
Whatever the process adopted to ensure that electoral reform is achieved, it is imperative that it be completed before the 13th GE. If Najib is truly sincere about reform, if his statements that “we will only want to form a government if the rakyat truly chooses Barisan Nasional” and that “I do not want to be prime minister without the people’s support” are to be believed, he should make a pledge not to call for the 13th GE until the reform has been effected.
And while all this is going on, let’s not forget that Bersih 2.0 is still considered illegal, after Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein declared it so last month. He should now admit that if it had not been for Bersih 2.0’s insistence on electoral reform, embodied in its eight demands and publicly vented in its July 9 mass rally, we would not have arrived at this point.
Hishammuddin should admit that Bersih 2.0 has demonstrated the power that civil society can have to pressure the ruling party to re-examine its stand. He should also note that the Deputy Speaker has now actually said, that as electoral reform is a matter of great importance to the public interest, “It is best we discuss it in-depth and involve all stakeholders including Bersih, NGOs, the Bar Council and civil society.”
If no less than the Deputy Speaker of Parliament has expressed recognition of Bersih 2.0, isn’t it about time that Hishammuddin revoked his order against the group?
The ways of our Government often perplex me. When inflation cripples us, they simply look away or offer silly reasons for doing nothing. What's worse, just to make the point that they don't have to listen to our protests, they raise fuel prices eleven times in quick succession. When corruption corrodes our society and destroys our lives, the Government goes into denial till the Supreme Court or our UMNO intervenes and forces it to act. It then acts reluctantly, grumbling about judicial over reach or why UMNO has no business pointing out NO corruption when its responsibilities don't go beyond book keeping. Even when it comes to terrorism and organised crime, the Government is always late to respond. But when it comes to acting tough against its own citizens, they are quick, very quick. No Supreme Court, needs to intervene. You can see they are having a lot of fun being nasty.
Any electoral reform should be to ENSURE that elections are held FAIRLY and CLEANLY. so that the results reflect CORRECTLY the Democratic choice of the people. It should be to correct any errors present in the system. It shouldn't be just to 'satisfy' any one group of people According to The Malaysian Insider, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is moving to the centre and trying to put some distance between himself and hardliners like Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein.
I fear that your reporters and portal may have been suckered by the flip-flop PM and his good cop, bad cop routine.
This strategy is to paint himself like a liberal reformer who is trapped by hardliners like Hishammuddin and others and that all the missteps recently have been the fault of the hardliners.
May I respectfully point out a few things:
1) It is the PM's name, which is linked to the Scorpene deal, and it was his administration which reacted like the guilty party when it deported the French lawyer.
2) Najib is a chameleon. Just look at his comments on Bersih. He can't figure out what his position is. Yes to stadium, no to stadium, I actually offered Shah Alam Stadium but Bersih said no (never mind that only he seemed to have remembered the offer).
Then he likened the Bersih rally to the London riots but when that description did not go down well with many even with a deputy minister, he changed tack.
Today, he said that even though 80 per cent of rally goers were okay, the remaining 20 per cent could have been troublemakers.
A couple of days ago, he announced a select committee on electoral reform, but today he devalued his plan by giving the impression that the electoral reform plan was just to satisfy the Opposition.
What should we make of this man?
Doesn't he understand that electoral reform is important to all Malaysians?
3) If, as The Malaysian Insider reported, he is trying to move to the centre, why is he still tolerating Hishammuddin and Perkasa? Because he is the good cop to Muhyiddin, Hishammuddin and others who are the bad cops.
I expect my prime minister to be honest, a man of integrity, consistency and above all, a man of principle.
I don't want a chameleon.
Take the case of Anna Hazare.
Anna is just another common citizen like you and I. Except that unlike some of us he has lived a somewhat uncomplicated, exemplary life. He has also tried to bring in change at the grass root level, which has put him in open conflict with some of our wickedest political leaders who have done their best to crush him. But Anna has been obstinate. No amount of bullying has intimidated him. Nor have his adversaries managed to hurt his credibility despite floating many ugly rumours about his trust and his personal integrity.
That is why, when India was so desperately looking for someone to lead civil society in its protest against what is undoubtedly the most corrupt Government we have ever had, Anna was an obvious choice. No, he did not start the anti-corruption campaign. Thousands of ordinary Indians did. You and I did. And Anna emerged as the face of the movement. Just as the Janlokpal Bill became its focus.
The question is no longer: Is the Janlokpal Bill perfect? Millions think it is. The Government says no. But that's not moot any more. The people of India have coalesced around the Bill because they see it as an answer to a problem that is killing them every day. Corruption not only hurts the poor; it hurts and humiliates us all today. Whoever we may be, whatever we may be doing it is no longer possible to do anything without paying bribes to the political class and its minions in the bureaucracy. Even the business community, often accused of being blind to corruption, is now sick of being constantly harassed and extorted by the very leaders they bankroll to fight the elections.
So the question is not: Is Anna Hazare the best leader to fight this war against corruption? The question is also not: Is the Janlokpal Bill the ideal weapon to fight the war with? It's not even the cynical question: Can the war ever be won? The question today is: Shall we let this opportunity pass? Suddenly we find that the whole nation has quietly and unobtrusively come together to take a stand against corruption and Anna, for better or for worse, is the face of the struggle. Shall we let this opportunity go or should we seize it? That's the real question. And India has already answered it.Forget Anna Hazare. The Jan Lokpal movement can go to hell for all I care. Let us just look at the issues over which the battle between the Government and us citizens is being fought. And then let’s decide where we want to stand, each one of us, on the issue of corruption.
The first question is: Do corruption and bribery hurt you? If they do, do you want a solution? If your answer is yes to both, do you think such a solution lies with an independent authority? Or do you think a corrupt Government can fight corruption on its own, and within its own ranks? If your answer is no to that, then we need to create an independent institution to fight corruption. Right? Well, that’s precisely what Anna is asking for. He is asking for a Lokpal that the Government cannot influence nor manipulate. This is the first battle.
The second battle is over four things. One: Should the Prime Minister come under the purview of the Lokpal? Almost everyone I know thinks he should. A honest Prime Minister wouldn’t care. A dishonest one must be supervised. Or else, we will have cases like Bofors that will never ever be resolved. Two: Should Members of Parliament come under the Lokpal? I have not met a single person till date who thinks that our MPs are so honest that they need not be supervised. My guess is if a referendum is ever taken, Anna will get a 100% yes to this question, given what people think of our politicians and the standards of probity in public life. The third question is even more obvious: Do all public servants need to come under the Lokpal? My guess is India’s answer will be yes, yes, yes. Every day, in every area of our life and work, we are constantly harassed, intimidated and extorted by corrupt Government officers. The poorer you are, the worse is the torture. So yes, every public servant, every Government officer must come under the Lokpal. Question four: Who should give permission to file an FIR against a corrupt judge? If the Lokpal can look into corruption charges against the PM, the MPs and Government servants, isn’t it only logical to expect it to do the same against judges?
The third and final battle is over an even simpler thing: The Citizen’s Charter. Should every Government office have such a Charter which will clearly state which officer will do what work and in how much time? And should an officer who refuses to do his work in time or asks for a bribe to move a file be punished? The Government says a charter a fine but Government servants must not be penalised if they don’t do their work! Anna believes that officers not doing their work in time amounts to corruption and must face the same treatment. Isn’t it rather obvious what India thinks about this?
Do we really need a referendum on these simple, basic issues? I seriously doubt it. Every Indian will endorse the idea of a Lokpal as Anna and his team have envisioned it, with the help of thousands of Indians who have contributed online to the process of drafting the bill.
Yes, there are genuine fears that we should not create yet another monster out there, who will make life more difficult for us than it already is. But even that has been addressed rather adroitly by Anna’s team. It is a complex process, true but it also ensures that the choice is wisely made. And what if there are charges against the Lokpal? Well, there’s a provision there too. You can go straight to the Supreme Court and seek justice out there.
So why are we arguing so much over this Bill? Why is the Government digging its heels in and refusing to listen to us citizens? Why must Anna go on a hunger strike all over again to press home the point that corruption must be fought back? I guess it’s a question of both ego and fear. No one likes to give up the power they have, and certainly not the Government. In fact, it’s always trying to interfere more and more in our lives, grab more and more authority, more and more space. And fear? Well, I guess we all know the answer to that. This is possibly the most corrupt Government we have ever had. It has good reason to be scared.
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