MAY 10 — The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) asserts that the people of Malaysia have spoken loudly and clearly through the ballot box in electing Pakatan Harapan as the next Federal Government.
Despite the many manipulations and frauds of the 14th General Elections in favour of the then-Barisan Nasional Government, these were overcome to deliver a clear verdict of 113 Federal Parliament seats to the Pakatan Harapan coalition, with an additional eight seats to Parti Warisan Sabah.
BERSIH 2.0 believes there is no legitimate reason to delay the swearing in of Pakatan Harapan leader Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister of Malaysia. The Federal Constitution only requires the Prime Minister to enjoy the confidence of the majority of Members of the Dewan Rakyat and has no mention of political parties. There are also many precedents of informal coalitions forming state governments immediately after election results have been announced, including in Selangor and Penang in 2013.
BERSIH 2.0 further notes the reason for this ‘informal’ coalition was the abuse of power by the Registrar of Societies in refusing to register Pakatan Harapan as a formal coalition.
BERSIH 2.0 therefore calls on Barisan Nasional President Datuk Seri Najib Razak to concede defeat and allow for a peaceful transition of power to take place. We call on the Yang Di Pertuan Agung to ensure the forming of new government without delay.
This is a historic time for the country, with the first transition of Federal power since Merdeka. It is imperative that this transition be done smoothly, democratically and efficiently. Democracy is the key to political and economic stability and there must be not attempts to subvert this process.
BERSIH 2.0 congratulates candidates, polling and counting agents, election workers (the majority of whom acted professionally and without incident), our PEMANTAU volunteers and all voters for participating in this display of democracy in the face of the many hurdles put in place to obstruct the people’s will.
Malaysia has spoken, Najib Razak must listen.
* Issued by the BERSIH 2.0 Steering Committee
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
