MALAYSIAN PSC IS THE ANSWER TO BERSEH 2.0?

PETALING JAYA: A Member of Parlimen from Kota Belud, Sabah, Abdul Rahman Dahlan(right photo), has applauded the proposed establishment of a parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reforms, saying that it would bring to a “close” the ongoing issue on clean and fair elections.
In his latest blog posting today, Rahman hailed Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s unveiling of the PSC as “the right decision and an answer to Bersih 2.0”. (Bersih had initiated a rally on July 9 to campaign for electoral reforms.)

• Najib(right photo) had said that the PSC would strive to end all suspicions of manipulation by the government of the country’s electoral system.
• “The government has agreed to ask Parliament to set up a select committee to study whether the objections made by certain quarters hold water or not, as well as seek answers to questions that have been raised,” Rahman said.
• “The committee will also recommend measures to improve the country’s electoral process. Therefore I wholeheartedly welcome this move.”
• Rahman said that the establishment of a PSC is a better option than calling for an emergency parliamentary sitting and listed the advantages of the former.
• “The focus would be solely on the issues at hand and there won’t be any political rhetoric,” he said.
• “The time frame for a meeting will be longer in a PSC where witnesses are allowed to testify unlike an emergency sitting that only lasts a day and doesn’t allow for testimonies.”
• According to Rahman, the question of who would chair the committee is being debated. However, he disagreed that it was necessary for the opposition to hold that position, saying that the Parliament’s qorum and composition must be maintained in any PSC.
• “To me, the argument that a chairman from the opposition would be supposedly more effective doesn’t arise at all,” he said. “Anyone in the committee can voice his or her opinions, put forth recommendations and question the witnesses for as much as they want.”
• “Besides, the public and media attention will not give space for anyone to manipulate the PSC, and should any manipulation takes place, those involved will be punished by the people.”
• Pakatan Rakyat has called for the committee to be headed by a member of parliament from its coalition.
• Rahman also dismissed an earlier call by the DAP for an emergency parliamentary sitting before Hari Raya Aidilfitri so as to enable the swift establishment of the PSC. Parliament will sit next on Oct 3.

Rahman pointed out that the establishment of any select committee required the consensus of the parliamentarians, which meant that the PSC could only be formed on Oct 3.
“But in the interim the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat can begin preliminary work such as short listing their candidates for the committee and conduct research into the issues at hand,” he said.
“This way, the PSC can start work immediately on Oct 3. I hope that with this committee the issues faced by the Election Commission will be finally put to rest.”

Source: fmt, Agency