Win or lose, Malaysia is changing

Updated May 02, 2013 21:16:48

Whoever wins watershed national elections on Sunday, "the political landscape of Malaysia will never be the same again", says a human rights lawyer and commentator.

But Edmund Bon says fears are rising over the integrity of the polling process.



An online news site, Malaysiakini, quoted opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as saying he has documented evidence of chartered flights flying in "dubious voters" who are foreign nationals.

Mr Bon told Sen Lam on Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program that Bersih, the campaign for free and fair elections, raised such allegations much earlier.

Audio: Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, of the Malaysian Election Commission, rejects allegations (ABC News)

Voter awareness

"I think these allegations (dubious voters) are now being verified by NGOs (non-government organisations)," he said.

The lawyer writes on a socio-political and legal education blog, Loyar Buruk. Mr Bon is also a key figure behind several voter-awareness initiatives, including Undi-Malaysia.

He said: "The unfortunate thing, of course, is that the (election commission) has lost much of its credibility and whatever it says now, that it (the BN government) is not flying in these so-called foreign people, it's really something that we cannot accept at face value.


The Election Commission deputy chairman, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, defended it against the allegations. He said it had put in a lot of work to ensure an honest electoral roll, and questioned how "phantom voters" could cast a ballot if their names were not on the roll.

Datuk Omar said the ink used on voters' fingers to prevent double-voting could not be entirely removed through washing.

Edmund Bon said that with allegations flying around, "it's already very tense on the ground, I think, especially among the political parties.




The lawyer said that in the last two weeks of campaigning, "you're seeing for the first time a lot of young voters coming out, many first-time voters, fence-sitters.

Ethnic identification



"You have numbers from 500 onwards, almost every night, to 1,500 in small centres.

"I think this is the first time you've seen people much more aware, due to a lot of different acts of dissent . . . that (have) ignited the imagination of the youth for a new Malaysia."

Does he think Malaysians can sense change on the horizon, whether it is under the BN or under the Pakatan Rakyat?

Mr Bon said: "I think the political landscape of Malaysia will never be the same again. It depends on who you speak to.

"Of course, the urban centres have always been talking about this change. And even if they don't (have) facts to back it up, they're saying you can't have a monopoly of one party for over 50 years.

"The rural areas are much more difficult to read because there are a lot of cash handouts, a lot of different tactics and the education levels are a bit lower than the urban centres."

Topics: malaysia, asia

First posted May 02, 2013 20:19:27