April 29, 2012
Malaysian Election Commission is backward, opines fact-finding group
by Leven Woon@http://www.malaysiakini.com
A Pakistani member of a fact-finding mission group on Malaysia election opined that the local Election Commission (EC) is backward, which is a cause of the country’s weak democracy.
At a press conference to release the group’s interim report today, Pakistan senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo said that he is surprised to find that Malaysia, as a modern country, still has an underdeveloped electoral system.
“A country like Pakistan has introduced electronic voting long ago,” he said.He said EC Deputy Chief Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (left), when met by the group members, gave non-committal answer about several reforms raised by the members.
“The EC needs to be improved. Only if the institution improves can the democracy of the country improve,” he said.
The seven-member international group, many of whom are politicians in their own countries, was invited by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to conduct the mission from April 25 to 29.
They have interviewed UMNO secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah, Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim, Anwar and Wan Ahmad on the election system for the Dewan Rakyat.
Wan Ahmad had told the group that “no current member of the EC team belongs to any political party”, when the group questioned the neutrality of the EC.
“(Wan Ahmad) expressed his personal views that no member of the commission ought to belong to a political party,” read the report.
This is, however, in sharp contrast to his response to Sinar Harian a few days ago in which he admitted that he is an inactive UMNO member.
‘Ku Nan asked whether Malaysians mature for freedom’
Meanwhile, Australian academician Clinton Fernandez noted that Tengku Adnan had asked in a meeting with the group: “Are our people (Malaysians) mature for freedom?”
Commenting on political development in Indonesia, Fernandez claimed that Tengku Adnan 
(right) had said: “One of the problems with Indonesia is that there is too much freedom.”
“I find these comments disturbing, it reflects the authoritarian attitudes at the highest level of power,” he said. India Today Editorial Director Mobashar Jawed Akbar also said he heard the statement with “deepest pain”.
“It is unfortunate that some voice in authority actually believes this great nation, as a template of post-colonial nations, does not deserve democracy.This is a statement that cannot be accepted,” he said.
In the report, the group has concurred with BERSIH’s demands that the campaigning period should be extended to at least 21 days and overseas voters should be allowed to vote; while it recommends that the EC constitute its own physical verification team for voters’ status and make the 240,000 election workers as early voters.
They also mooted, among others, for the establishment of a Caretaker Convention as practised in the United Kingdom. They are slated to publish a full report in 21 days.
Related articles
- New York Times’ Liz Gooch reports on BERSIH 3.0 (dinmerican.wordpress.com)
- Nick Xenophon : News Coverage of BERSIH3.0 grossly distorted (dinmerican.wordpress.com)
- BERSIH 3.0: On the Integrity of Electoral Rolls in Malaysia (dinmerican.wordpress.com)
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
This Tengku (Teuku) Adnan has no credibility and is known to be very corrupt. The Fact Finding mission has given him its worst damnation for his attitude towards democracy in our country. BTW the Indonesian observer should not have given a copy of his book on Indonesian democracy to Tun Dr. Mahathir. I would liken it to giving pearl to a swine. Mahathir is the worst abuser of our electoral process and Najib is following in his steps. Woe betide.
Din, thank you for posting this. It is fascinating to hear the views of so many neutral observers, from so many countries, and especially from Pakistan, India, and Indonesia.
what , did this bozo of a sec.general utter such a statement? if this claimed is true then it supports the teory that umno-bn is indeed going backwards..
Malaysia is not a democracy; it is a crude and corrupt dictatorship. Both the Indian and Pakistani observers are disappointed with what is happening in our country. Their comments are valid.–Din Merican
No wonder the EC is backward . The country’s higher ups like this adnan guy are sick in their heads.. Next , it will be a revolution , first of its kind in the modern era
“Are our people (Malaysians) mature for freedom?” Adnan.
This idiot is Al Kutty’s one ball carrier. Wait till he’s on the opposite side of the bench then only he’ll know the co-relation between maturity and freedom.
Hello Mr Malott. Are you happy with the turn-out of the Bersih demo? Long time didn’t hear from you. I thought you give up knowing that Anwar is losing support.
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Makcik, you are not sticking to the issues. You were probably at home last Saturday. We all want free and fair elections so that we can have a government that will protect our collective interest.
I was at Bersih3.0 rally for 2 hours in Majid Jamed and Central Market (near the Malaysian Bar Council) and visited some of my journalist friends from the alternative media at the Royal Selangor Club.
Malaysians have overcome fear and are willing to fight for their right to be free. BERSIH3.0 is a success and Najib must take heed if he is to remain Prime Minister.–Din Merican
Still doesn’t understand basic fundamentals on Democracy this Mokcik! It is not about Anwar. It is about how backward some Umno stooges like you in not wanting a democratic country. With Tengku Adnan as Sec. Gen of UMNO giving such ridiculous comment, no wonder EC is at shambles. We can spend money on grandiose building and space tourism but are so far behind in true reforms for the betterment of all Malaysians, present and future.
Hmmm … Tengku Adnan , the Secretary General of UMNO Barisan asked this committee members their thoughts on whether ” Malaysians were mature enough for freedom “.
I can’t believe that this fat dummy clown is someone very close to Bean . Can’t wait to read Bean’ thoughts on this dummy.
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This fella is a not a Tengku; he is Teuku. That alone speaks volume about his character. Like his former boss, Mahathir, this Teuku has an identity crisis. He is like a dog in the manger. He is free to do as he pleases while the rest of us are in chains. Not anymore; Malaysians have overcome fear and BERSIH will continue in a series until the day when we can have free and fair elections.
The US, Britain, the EU, and other countries should consider how they should deal with Malaysia under the present regime which does not respect the rights of its citizens.President Obama, no comments from you on what happened in Kuala Lumpur on 428. Your State Department and your Embassy in Kuala Lumpur are asleep! And you are worried about Mitt Romney.–Din Merican
Actually I won’t even bother acknowledging Mak Cik, it’s an insult to my intelligence,if given time to comment about her,then we are all in the same boat,sinking fast.Great that the whole world knows about our Forking Govt n EC,now lets wait for the French court to call them idiots to testify,money laundering will get up them European noses,criminal charges will follow Kak Mah n hubby,so kena shopping d bandung aje laa,even that if the Indonesians let them,alaaa hai kalu dpt gi Petaling Street pun dah nasib baik,pakai ebay aje laa.
Good use of taxpayers’ money, send officers to spy on Bersih rally. Democrat, don’t get all riled up with makcik. He is just an imbecile dreaming of changing his sex one day, thus the moniker makcik. Also explains his obsession with homosexuality.
“A Pakistani member of a fact-finding mission group on Malaysia election opined that the local Election Commission (EC) is backward, which is a cause of the country’s weak democracy.”
Tell us something we don’t already know and we’ll tell you what you know.
True, but we were one of the first nations in the world to introduce passports that can be read electronically.Malaysia Boleh (when the regime wishes it to be so!)
Bean, some of us refuse to know and that is why our Pakistani observer had to remind us of the fact that we have an Election Commission that is one big joke, run by two UMNO stooges.
CLF, please consider this quote from George Bernard Shaw (in the preface to his 1904 play John Bull’s Other Island): “A healthy nation is as unconscious of its nationality as a healthy man of his bones. But if you break a nation’s nationality it will think of nothing else but getting it set again. It will listen to no reformer, to no philosopher, to no preacher, until the demand of the Nationalist is granted. It will attend to no business, however vital, except the business of unification and liberation”.
We are a fractured nation, in danger of amputation. BERSIH supporters are aware of the consequences of a Malaysia governed by the principles of divide et impera and that was why they, 200,000 of them, turned up in the vicinity of Independence Square (Dataran Merdeka) to say enough is enough with neo-colonialism of the present regime.–Din Merican
An example of Malaysian technical expertise:
The Commission is not the only hting backward in M’sia, just read this Tunku’s statement. “Indonesia has to much freedom”. Its a problem apparently. He is echoing all of them up there ,these public servants. This will be used to justify their oppression.
Adnan Mansor the UMNO sec general and Wan Ahmad Wan Omar the deputy chairman of the election commission are both clowns. When they stand up and walk , they already look like inflated clowns . When they open their mouths , they lie through the skin of their teeth and seem so pathetic . They think Malaysians are stupid , but all Malaysians know they are REINFORCED IDIOTS WHO ARE BEYOND REDEMPTION.
And what is worse is that they have so many morons hanging around them .
Depa ingat orang Malaysia semua mcm kerbau aku ni..pasal tu la depa dok syok sendiri. Tapi tak pa la, kita macam orang jual ubat la. Orang yang tak sakit dia tak beli ubat. Bila dia sakit nanti dia pi cari la ubat tu.
Bean, hang ingat dak Rahman jual ubat kat Pekan Rabu. Dia dok jerit, macam ni…
“Cacing ni dia korek tak kira sapa. Orang pempuan dia korek, cikgu dia korek, nurse dia korek, posmen dia korek, polis dia korek. ”
Lepas tu bila depan dia ada polis dia pusing pula..
“tapi bukan polis Malaysia..polis Singapore saja cacing korek. “
Makcik tgk CNN ke? Bukan CNN tu media yahudi ke? Oh orang2 hipokrit mcm makcik. Brapa ringgit makcik lelong diri makcik ni? Seringgit? Dua ringgit? Satu sen?
I agree with the overall conclusion of the observers but I disagree that having an electronic voting system is a step forward.
As a matter of fact, an electronic voting system is many steps backward. An electronic system is extremely open to abuse and worst of all, there is no way to find out, even if you are an expert in computer programming, you may not even discover the fraud!!!
Take for instance, you may select Candidate A on the voting machine but you will never know whether behind the scene the computer is actually programmed to add 1 vote to Candidate B.
Hey, why do you think Bush beat Gore in the states where electronic voting system were used?
One man, one vote should not be delegated to a computer. Malaysia should NEVER use electronic voting system. Stick to paper ballots and physical counting!!!
Indonesia has too much freedom, said the Dunggu!
thats not even original, that mad mahashit mahathir said ‘India has too much democracy’ when he was in India lately. why did’nt they throw him in one of the many cesspools there?
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