Najib, EC must be held responsible for cheating in redelineation exercise, says Bersih

Najib, EC must be held responsible for cheating in redelineation exercise, says Bersih

Now that the final report is in the hands of Najib Razak, he has unfettered powers under Section 9, 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution to make further changes as he deems necessary before tabling it in Parliament. – AFP file pic, March 10, 2018

ELECTORAL watchdog group Bersih 2.0 today slammed the Election Commission (EC) for “rushing” the redelineation process with no regard to due process and principles provided in the Federal Constitution.

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) steering committee also said voters must also hold Prime Minister Najib Razak and EC chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah responsible for “cheating in the redelineation exercise”.

The group said it was “clear” Najib and EC were determined to get the new electoral boundaries passed before the next general elections. 

“Now that the final report is in the hands of the prime minister, he has unfettered powers under Section 9, 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution to make further changes as he deems necessary before tabling it in Parliament. 

“It is certain the prime minister and EC will continue to cheat and force the proposed redelineation through to steal the upcoming elections,” Bersih said in a statement today.

The electoral watchdog warned Najib and Hashim “their continuing abuse of power and contempt against voters” would not go unnoticed. 

“Voters will ensure they are punished and made to answer for their actions. 

“We urge all voters to hold Najib and Hashim responsible for manipulating, cheating, and destroying the electoral system in Malaysia.”

The group’s reaction follows reports the redelineation exercise, as provided for under Article 113 (10) of the federal constitution, was completed yesterday and submitted to Najib.

Bersih said EC’s action was “illegal” because it had yet to properly complete the second local enquiry for Selangor. 

“In February, over 250 objections were filed by voters in Selangor, but EC has only notified and held local enquiries for 50 groups.

“As for the other 200 over objections, EC had neither the courtesy nor responsibility to notify them of the status of their objections and local inquiries,” the group said.

The Bersih committee also accused Hashim of “deceitfully” making a media statement recently that the second local enquiries were still ongoing.

“Similar assertions were made by the Senior Federal Counsel to the Court of Appeal in the Selangor case on March 2, 2018.

“EC has now stooped to a new low, as the announcement of the completion of the redelineation exercise effectively means they are now even denying the very minimum rights of over 20,000 objectors to be heard on the issue of redelineation, as provided for in the Federal Constitution.”

The steering committee said Bersih 2.0 and a group of four objectors filed a legal suit against EC last week, demanding for their local enquiries and their right to be heard. 

The group said EC could expect more legal suits by voters “as the people continued to fight for their rights”. 

“We urge the judiciary to fulfil its role in protecting the rights of ordinary voters and not to continue granting ‘immunity’ to the EC against judiciary scrutiny as it has done in the other redelineation and election cases.”

Today, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed the government had received EC’s report, but had yet to set a date to table the EC redelineation proposals for parliamentary and state constituencies.

Zahid, who is also home minister, said Najib had yet to discuss the matter with House Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia. – March 10, 2018.

So Najib and gang think they can win by cheating. Let us Malaysians teach them a LESSON and Vote them out of power once for ALL!

Let God see and deal with them.