MGG Pillai Commentary View

<< Previous || Next >>

The EC is compromised, and tries to wriggle out of it

THE ELECTION COMMISSION NOW OFFERS what all parties not in the National Front (BN) has always wanted: the right to hold election rallies. It was banned after the 13 May racial riots in 1969 on spurious political grounds. The BN government, not the EC, would budge from it, long after the likelihood of racial clashes had disappeared. The BN was in total control, the Opposition cowed beyond belief, the pressure to have it lifted half-hearted. So why has the EC chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, changed his mind, and the BN says nary a word? Is it another crumb off the table to divert attention from the EC blunders in recent months? Or is it part of an unaccustomed desire of the BN and the EC to bring politics back to what it was before 1969 and is the essence of what democracy is all about?

Tan Sri Abdul Rashid said public rallies will be allowed, if the police give a permit. Until now, political parties hold "ceremah", in which their leaders and others explain their policies. Originally, they were confined to the compounds of houses and limited to no more than the gates could hold. But what would people say if the Prime Minister were to address a ceremah and only 50 people turned up? So it was gradually extended to include even halls and closed stadiums attracting tens of thousands of people. On the other side of the fence, political parties like PAS openly defied the rule and went about their rallies, which of course they called ceremah, and carried on life as usual. The system is thoroughly abused in the grand old Malaysian tradition of form over substance.

The operative phrase in Tan Sri Rashid's announcement is "if the police give a permit". The police work in mysterious ways. A political party could ask for a permit, which would not be granted if the venue owner has not given permission. If all is ready, it would often wait for all preparations to be completed and on the eve of it refuse permission. Or there would be a suspicious request submitted by BN - yes, you are right! - a few hours or days earlier. But Tan Sri Rashid is sure of his quicksand ground: If the police did not issue a permit, it would breach the 'ethics code of a free election' if it did so. As he legs sink deeper into the quicksand, he proclaims loudly: A party in government or opposition is allowed to campaign and hold political rallies during an election campaign.

As usual, the EC triviliases what it stands for. The laws governing elections are complete enough that the EC should not need extraneous guidelines to ensure a free election. Or is Tan Sri Abdul Rashid indirectly telling us that the laws have been raped and buggered so thoroughly with its connivance that they are useless, and the guidelines alone would ensure electoral fairness and propriety? He naively believes it. As his view of the police: "The police are fair. They know that their responsibility is looking after the peace and safety of society - not stop people's right to campaign." And he warms up: "Since this is our business, we will be the ones to tell people what to stop and what not to stop. The police will have to listen to us (the EC), because this is our business. During the election period we are in charge," he told reporters yesterday (18 September 2003).

Since Tan Sri Rashid says he is in charge, would he address more practical issues that would help ensure a fairer election. Why cannot the black ballot boxes be made of see-through plastic? When a political party asked him, he said it was not possible. Did you not know that plastic is breakable, and cannot withstand the rigours of elections? Well then, this politician asked, why don't you narrow the slit through which ballots are inserted? Why is it so large that it prevents no one from inserting more than one ballot at the same time? That is provided under the law and there will no challenge, he declared. The other Opposition party representative did not know what this lady talked of, and the issue was sidelined.

The BN has a system during elections of a BN official taking responsibility for ten voters. He or she comandeers the identity cards of the ten and where possible votes on their behalf. If the ballot box slit is any narrower, or if the box is transparent, that would be difficult. The EC is, when all is said and done, there to ensure a BN victory. So, how could it do anything that would prevent that?

But it now seems clear it is on the right track. PAS now says it would not ask for Tan Sri Rashid's removal because it wants a fair and smooth election. Ultimately, when push comes to shove, all political parties in the Opposition will accept that the EC, however flawed, is the best we have, and we must learn to operate within its biased, narrow prescriptions. Free elections? Only if we are in power. In any case, the Opposition parties are more interested in attacking each other to ensure their defeat in the polls. In these circumstances, what does it matter if the electoral laws are flawed, and work against them? Do not worry about that is their refrain; we do a better job to lose than the EC ever can!

Meanwhile, the BN government continues to place hurdles at any attempt to unite. The Registrar of Societies has decided the union of Parti Keadilan Nasional (KeADILan) and Party Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) cannot be known as KeADILan, as the two parties wanted. "It is not suitable," came the imperious judgement. It is, as the two parties contend, "just a delaying tactic". The EC, with its new found claim that it is in charge where elections are concerned, is strangely quiet. But why is the government so obstructive? The BN is more frightened of this new merger than PAS. It has all but lost the Malay ground to PAS and an Islamic agenda. It would, if it is not careful, lost the non-Malay and moderate Islam ground to PKN-PRM party. So it does all it can to prevent its registration. Tan Sri Rashid would call that the right way to put the Opposition in its place.

As it said yesterday, Tan Sri Rashid, by his irrelevance, edges Malaysia towards a fair and equitable electoral system. We hope he would continue to say what he thinks about how unfair it is, and make more Malaysian realise that it is not there for the BN government to chop and snip as it pleases. He is a typical Malaysian eunuch of a bureaucrat. In ancient China, the eunuch controlled the levers of power; in modern Malaysia, he is His Master' Voice, and his only pleasure is to show his servility and acquire wealth. Nothing else matters to him. Tan Sri Rashid understood that early enough. He must do more than rant, as he does so effectively now, if he means what he says. He must prove he is not a puppet cleverly manipulated by the Great Dalang himself. Until then, his remarks must be viewed as opening the way for a fairer and more open electoral system - after he leaves the scene.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my