With Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof close to retiring, electoral reform movment Bersih 2.0 wants a successor who will not repeat previous mistakes.

Bersih 2.0 chief Maria Chin Abdullah said the watchdog is not satisfied with Abdul Aziz's performance and hence, it just cannot wait for his departure from the EC.

"In short, we don't want the EC to repeat what it has been doing all this while, such as when violence occurs during elections, (there is) biased monitoring or persecution of certain political parties only.

"All this must be stop. Not just (change) the head, but the whole system must be changed," Maria told a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

She said Abdul Aziz ( photo ) is slated to reach the mandatory retirement age in January. Article 114(3) of Federal Constitution stipulates that the EC chairperson must stand down when he is 66 years old.

She also outlined four demands for new EC chairperson to improve the electoral system:

1. EC should be put under the purview of Parliament. Currently it comes under the Prime Minister's Department.

2. Establish a parliamentary select committee to receive the periodic EC reports. This is to ensure EC is responsible to Parliament.

3. Establish a bipartisan EC selection committee to appoint EC members. This is to ensure the EC is free from the influence of any political party.

4. Restore assistant returning officers (ARO) from political parties to assist EC in registering voters.

Asked on the plans regarding the coming Sarawak state election, Maria said Bersih is organising its electoral monitoring work.