PUTRAJAYA, Sept 3 — Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem today said his administration is willing to work with polls reform group Bersih 2.0 and other similar groups to ensure a free and fair election in the state.

Adenan said the state government is “prepared” to work with the groups, but on condition that they are not linked to the opposition.

“Yes, we are prepared provided you are not with the opposition,” he said when asked about the state elections which must be held by September next year.

“You don’t have to be with us, but you have to be objective,” the Sarawak Barisan Nasional chairman said during a question and answer session at the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference.

When asked to clarify if his state administration will work with Bersih 2.0, Adenan told reporters that will depend on the Election Commission, though he noted that the election watchdog had already set up chapters in the state.

“And of course it’s not for me to decide, it’s for the Election Commission to decide, because they are conducting the election, not me,” he said.

Former Bersih 2.0 co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan had asked if the Sarawak government was ready to work with Bersih 2.0 and other non-governmental organisations to minimise vote-buying, allowing fair access to media and to ensure free and fair elections in the state.

When met later, Ambiga told reporters that Adenan’s expression of readiness was positive, but said that Bersih 2.0 is not linked to the opposition.

“We’ve got nothing to do with the opposition. As chief minister, he must see everyone,” the Malaysian National Human Rights Society (Hakam) president said, adding that she will suggest to Bersih 2.0 to write in a letter to follow-up with Adenan.

Adenan’s comment came as another local activist, Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4)’s Cynthia Gabriel, quizzed him today on his administration’s ban on several activists’ entry into Sarawak.

Among those blocked from entry into Sarawak is Ambiga, who was barred from setting foot in the state when she was still heading Bersih 2.0 in 2011.

A year later, her successor Maria Chin Abdullah was also deported from Sarawak after arriving at the airport there in preparation for a Bersih 2.0 campaign in the state.