Massive deception and propaganda campaign afoot that PSC majority report complies with seven of eight Bersih 2.0 demands when only one is being implemented


A massive deception and propaganda campaign is afoot, making full use of public funding and mobilising the mainstream media and Barisan Nasional cybertroopers, to create the impression that the majority report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reform complies with seven of the eight Bersih 2.0 Demands for clean, free and fair elections when in actual fact, only one is being implemented.

The only one of the eight Bersih 2.0 Demands which is being implemented is Bersih 2.0 Demand 3 on “Use of Indelible ink” while the other seven Bersih 2.0 Demands are either given partial and unsatisfactory responses, or mere lip-service and meaningless recognition or outright rejection as in Bersih 2.0 Demand 4 on “Minimum 21 days campaign period”.

The eight Bersih 2.0 Demands that motivated 50,000 Malaysians transcending race, religion and region to support the historic July 9, 2011 Bersih 2.0 rally were:

  1. Clean the electoral roll

  2. Reform postal ballot

  3. Use of indelible ink

  4. Minimum 21 days campaign period

  5. Free and fair access to media

  6. Strengthen public institutions

  7. Stop corruption

  8. Stop dirty politics

The best example of the failure of the PSC majority report to address the core demand for a clean, free and fair election is Bersih 2.0 Demand 1 on “Clean the electoral roll”, which states:

“The electoral roll is marred with irregularities such as deceased persons and multiple persons registered under a single address or non-existent addresses.
“The electoral roll must be revised and updated to wipe out these ‘phantom voters’. The rakyat have a right to an electoral roll that is an accurate reflection of the voting population.”

This is also why Pakatan Rakyat parties of DAP, PKR and PAS fully supported the three Pakatan Rakyat MPs on the PSC, Loke Siew Fook (Rasah), Mohamed Azmin (Gombak) and Dr. Mohd Hatta (Kuala Krai) in their effort to append a minority report, as the PSC majority report had failed to deal with the crux of the problem to ensure clean, free and fair elections and guarantee a clean, comprehensive and legitimate electoral roll in the 13th general election.

The fatal weakness of the PSC majority report is its failure to acknowledge the many problems in the electoral roll and the total absence of a commitment to address all of these problems before the 13GE since they can affect the balance of power in the upcoming General Election.

The fact that there are significant problems with the Malaysian electoral roll is not something new. Allegations of phantom voters and illegal immigrants being given fake ICs in order to register themselves as voters have been well documented. For example, the election results in the state seat of Likas in the 1999 Sabah state election was declared invalid by the Election Court because of the presence of phantom voters in the electoral roll.

Given these past problems with the electoral roll, it is highly inappropriate for the PSC majority report to only highlight just one problem to do with the electoral roll which is addresses which have more than 50 registered voters.

The PSC majority report blatantly ignores the other problems with the electoral roll which have been discovered including:

  1. Over 31,000 names which have been shifted from state and/or parliament constituency to another without their knowledge as a result of the ‘stealth correction’ of boundary lines of state and parliamentary constituencies by the Election Commission which is illegal and unconstitutional

  2. The failure of the Election Commission to delete over 42,000 names of voters whose citizenship status cannot be verified by the National Registration Department (NRD).

  3. The failure of the Election Commission to verify the status of over 65,000 voters aged 85 years and above including over 1000 who are more than 100 years old.

  4. Over 15,000 names whose IC numbers show a different gender than the Election Commission records.

  5. Over 4500 names of spouses of police who are registered as postal voters when they are clearly not entitled to this right.

Pakatan Rakyat has provided concrete evidence of all these problems but they have not been recognized in the PSC majority report.

The total number of voters associated with these problems adds up to over 150,000 and many of them are located in marginal or swing constituencies that will be closely contested in the next general election.

More worrying is the high possibility that these problems are only the tip of the iceberg underneath which hides massive electoral fraud.

Sabah after the 1990 election and Terengganu after the 1999 election are just two examples where there were sudden increases in the number of voters in the electoral roll in the states to enable the BN to win back the state government from the Opposition.

Now we see the same pattern being repeated in the state of Selangor leading up to the 13th general election.

The number of voters in Sabah increased by 17.6% from 1990 to 1995 compared to the national average of 13.0%. This was after PBS left the BN coalition prior to the 1990 Sabah state elections and was in charge of the state government from 1990 to 1994.

In the state of Terengganu, the number of voters increased by a whopping 17.7% from 1999 to 2004 compared to a national average of 7.3%. Again, it is noteworthy that the state of Terengganu had fallen to the opposition during the 1999 general elections.

In 1999, the opposition won 28 out of 32 state seats and all 8 parliamentary seats. In 2004, after this massive increase in the number of voters, the opposition won only 1 parliamentary and 4 state seats, an almost total reverse of the 1999 general election results.

In Selangor, according to the 4th quarter 2011 electoral roll, the number of voters has increased by over 340,000 to more than 1.9 million voters since the 2008 general election.

This represents an increase of 21.8% compared to a national average of 16.3%. Some of these increases have occurred in areas which limited increases in the number of new housing estates and population inflows. For example, the seat of Hulu Selangor, a marginal parliamentary seat, saw an increase of more than 17,000 voters or 27.1% from the 2008 general election to the 4th Quarter 2011 electoral roll.

It was reported that over 1,100 voters Permanent Residents were included in the electoral roll in Selangor including one ‘Mismah’ whose status was quickly upgraded from PR to Citizen upon the discovery of her inclusion in the electoral roll.

These examples highlight the possibility of large scale systematic cheating with the intention of recapturing the state government of Selangor. Again, what has been discovered so far may only be the tip of the iceberg.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had argued in Parliament that the fact that five state governments fell to the opposition in 2008 was proof that the electoral rolls are not tainted. One should ask whether the opposition could have won control of more states and perhaps even the federal government if the electoral roll were totally clear of phantom voters.

BN is fighting for its political survival and would do anything to remain in power including padding the electoral roll with phantom voters using various tricks and strategies. It is essential that the electoral roll be clear of these phantom voters to ensure that the upcoming 13th general election does not turn out to be a massive electoral fraud in the making.

The exclusion of the highlighting of these problems in the PSC Report on Electoral Reform makes a mockery of the intent to deliver a freer and fairer electoral system to Malaysians.

  1. #1 by yhsiew on Wednesday, 4 April 2012 - 4:37 pm

    ///A massive deception and propaganda campaign is afoot….///

    The campaign will hit the brick wall when Bersih 3.0 comes out in full strength on 28 April 2012. The rakyat will know they have been deceived seeing Bersih 3.0 supporters marching on the street en masse.

  2. #2 by yhsiew on Wednesday, 4 April 2012 - 5:20 pm

    I am not so worry Kit. Their falsehood and lies will be debunked when Bersih 3.0 emerges at the end of the month.

  3. #3 by Cinapek on Wednesday, 4 April 2012 - 5:28 pm

    The outright rejection by the Speaker to accept a minority report from the Opposition speaks volumes. If there is nothing to hide why be afraid to allow it to be debated? Is it because a debate could allow more dirt to be revealed?

    By stifling such issues, the BN Govt is only revealing more of its sinister motives and deception tactics. They have just made clear that all those doubts about the sincerity of the PSC is true. It was merely a smokescreen to deflect the people’s anger after Bersih 2 but done in such a crude and infantile manner that it fell flat on its face the moment it is put to the test.

    The sly manner the BN Govt operates is again confirmed today when MRCB is talking about selling the EDL back to the Govt. The public statement by MRCB confirms that it is unhappy with the Govt for renegading on its deal with MRCB. And MRCB hit the nail on the head when it claims the Govt backtracked because of negatie public sentiments. This shows that the Govt had indeed agreed on terms with MRCB that is detrimental to the public’s interest and now there is a hue and cry, they tried to do U turn, which made MRCB unhappy their cookie jar was taken away.

    All those public statements about “rakyat first” is once again proven to be a farce in this EDL case. The terms the Govt agreed with MRCB would have fleeced the public had it gone ahead.

  4. #4 by sheriff singh on Wednesday, 4 April 2012 - 6:27 pm

    This is why PR is doomed at the 13th GE. The BN is a gone case and is fighting very hard for survival. It will no doubt play very dirty to remain in power. Otherwise many of them will have to seek asylum in other countries.

  5. #5 by sheriff singh on Wednesday, 4 April 2012 - 6:28 pm

    Who audits the EC? Are they free from Oversight?

  6. #6 by monsterball on Thursday, 5 April 2012 - 2:53 am

    Without corruptions..twisting ..bribing…just to name some…Najib have nothing to offer.
    Thus it’s indirectly keep defying Bersih 2 demands and BERSIH 3 planned on 28th April at 2pm is good.
    Me and few friends will participate.
    It’s PEOPLE POWER to prove Najib’s “People First” slogan is nothing but to fool Malaysians..what more his…”1Malaysia” nonsense.
    Yes Najib keep fooling Malaysians treating us like suckers…and BERSIH 3 is People Power ….the PEOPLE CONSCIENCE will express our dis-satisfactions our Najib’s sly fox…corrupted cunning..leadership…once again.

  7. #7 by B33Rhipp0 on Thursday, 5 April 2012 - 5:35 am

    I don’t understand that instead of protesting in the streets at 10k ppl, why not use these people to go to the ec and check for phantom voters? If the 2 gentlemen who spoke during the bersih 3.0 launch can find proof, just tell these ppl how to look for it. Since its tedious and alot of work that ec or any ngo have no time to do a proper scan through, what’s better than 10k free workers to do that for u? 10k man hours in 1 day equals to few years of work achievable by the 2 gentlemen…. I think one of them from ucsi. Hey, sure beats getting shot at by tear gas canisters right? Ur take

  8. #8 by monsterball on Thursday, 5 April 2012 - 5:56 am

    B33RhippO…..it is easier said than done.
    Remember we are dealing with rouges and thieves that are governing the country with a tight grip to everything.
    The only way is vote for change and see the light at the end of the tunnel.
    Once we see the light…all will be clear to you.
    Millions like me can see and feel.. in complete darkness.

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