News Source: the star
KUALA LUMPUR: The Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms chairman Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili tabled its preliminary report in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday.
The Opposition moved a motion to ensure the recommendations are implemented by the Election Commission (EC) and the relevant government agencies by Jan 1.
Ipoh Timor (DAP) Lim Kit Siang proposed that the 10 recommendations include the need for changes be made with immediate effect and enforced by the EC and relevant government agencies at the start of the coming year.
Dr Maximus said that the committee had heard from 26 organisations and received 40 suggestions and ideas.
“The recommendations we have put in the report are unanimously agreed upon by all the committee members,” he told the Dewan Rakyat Thursday.
Dr Maximus said the report recommended all the recommendations in the preliminary report be implemented in the 13th general election while recommendations that were still being considered would be decided in the final report.
He said that this shows that the Government was serious in carrying out the reforms.
The 115-page report, which will be moved for debate in parliament, has put forward 10 recommendations that can be implemented immediately as they did not require any change to existing laws.
The Dewan Rakyat approved the motion for PSC on electoral reforms on Oct 3.
The first PSC’s public hearing was held on Nov 11, at the Parliament House, while the second was in Sabah for two days (Nov 25).
The recommendations include the use of indelible ink to prevent multiple voting, allowing voting by Malaysians living abroad and allowing Sabahans and Sarawakians working in the peninsular to vote from here.
On the use of indelible ink, the committee said there was no need to amend the Federal Constitution to use the ink, making it the EC’s responsibility to “expedite” changes to election rules to make the use of ink part of the voting process.
The PSC also wanted an audit on the rolls to be carried out immediately and suggested that government technology adviser Mimos Berhad go through the electoral rolls and verify the authenticity of entries as part of efforts to clean up the rolls.
It felt the audit would address claims of voters having the same MyKad number; deceased voters still on the list; voters who are not local; many voters registered under one address and voters who had lost their right to vote.
And while it did not fall within their terms of reference, the committee also recommended that a Royal Commission of Inquiry be formed to look into the countless allegations of illegal immigrants afforded voting rights as phantom voters in Sabah, on top of getting the EC to carry out a voter validation programme in the state.
The other panel members are Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn, Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi, P. Kamalanathan, Azmin Ali, Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli, Anthony Loke and Wee Choo Keong.
