KUALA LUMPUR, August 14 — The Bersih 2.0 steering committee said today it is hoping the prime minister will consent to establishing a tribunal to investigate electoral misconduct during the last polls, the outcome of which can be tabled in Parliament.
The elections watchdog’s acting chairman Shahrul Aman Mohd Saaari said if the tribunal is set up, it would be ideal if it could be a bipartisan effort.
“This is an age-old struggle, and we have always kept it open to everyone regardless of the political divide,” he told the media during the press conference at the Dewan Rakyat.
Shahrul added that some Opposition leaders had approached the watchdog to assist in conducting electoral exercises, although he did not specify when this occurred.
He said the proposed tribunal will look into the actions of the seven commissioners of the Election Commission (EC) and determine how much of the misconduct which occured during the 14th general election (GE14) was their responsibility.
Of the seven, only former chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah has since resigned from the post in July 1 for early retirement.
“We note that the appointment of five commissioners from 2013 to 2018 were from the ranks of former civil servants, including the chairman and his deputy. Tan Sri Mohd Hashim was in fact a personal aid to Umno Information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa from 1990 to 1999,” said Shahrul.
Similarly, he said the current deputy chairman Tan Sri Othman Mahood had served as the senior deputy chief secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office under then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak from 2011 to 2017.
When asked what actions the commissioners should face if they are found guilty of abetting electoral misconduct, he said it would be up to the tribunal to decide. However several MPs present said they personally felt the commissioners ought to resign.
“The tribunal would require the involvement of many parties, including lawyers, legislators, and perhaps senior judges among others to give their views,
“As this concerns the EC, it would require an amendment to the Federal Constitution and as such the tribunal’s proposals would then be brought before Parliament to be discussed and hopefully tabled,” Shahrul said.
One of the MPs in attendance was Klang’s Charles Santiago, who said it is vital that the EC be reformed so that it can no longer be used as a political tool to retain any party or coalition in power.
“Even now there are ongoing discussions regarding the formation of select committees in Parliament, and it is likely the EC issue will be under one of those committees,
“The main thing is to ensure the EC will always be answerable and accountable only to Parliament, and under its scrutiny,” he said.
