APSN | Malaysian parliament adopts poll reforms

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Malaysian parliament adopts poll reforms

Associated Press - December 1, 2011

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Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia's parliament on Thursday adopted electoral reforms including several demands made by leaders of a mass rally that alleged poll fraud.

With general elections widely expected next year, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Kuala Lumpur in July calling for reforms of the electoral system. Police broke up the rally with tear gas and water cannon and arrested 1,600 people.

Stung by criticism at home and abroad over the government's response, Prime Minister Najib Razak called for a bipartisan panel in August to explore changes to a system widely viewed as biased in favour of his ruling party.

The panel recommended the use of indelible ink, allowing absentee voting, cleaning up the electoral roll to remove deceased voters and other steps to reduce the risk of cheating.

Parliament adopted the recommendations Thursday. Panel member Hatta Ramli said it was now up to the Election Commission (EC) to implement the changes.

"We expect the EC to take up all the recommendations... as agreed by the August house," Hatta, a lawmaker for the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, told AFP.

He said the panel had not agreed on an exact timeframe but had "stressed in the report that all those recommendations should be implemented during the 13th (the next) general election."

Activists and opposition politicians allege Malaysia's electoral system is unfair and marred by fraud that has helped the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition stay firmly in power since independence in 1957.

Hatta said the panel would remain active for four more months, reviewing feedback for further electoral reforms. A final report is expected to be published then, Hatta said.

Wong Chin Huat, an activist and one of the organisers of the July rally, said the recommendations' adoption was only a "partial victory."

Many demands, such as automatic voter registration and longer campaign periods, had not been adequately addressed, he said. "It's not as good as it seems," he told AFP. "It's a good step forward... But if this is it, it falls short of the public expectation."

Najib is trying hard to regain support as he faces a fractured but rising opposition that scored historic parliamentary gains in polls in 2008.

In September, he announced plans to replace tough, decades-old rules on security, free speech and assembly and improve civil liberties to shore up support ahead of the elections.

The opposition has dismissed the moves as insincere, pointing to the passage on Tuesday of a new law on public assemblies that includes an outright ban on street protests.