Engage reminds Malaysians that Anwar Ibrahim would not have been jailed had the redelineation exercises in 2003 and 2005 been done fairly.
Led by Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, the Election Commission (EC) then was therefore partly to blame for yesterday’s injustice. Malaysians should remember Abdul Rashid and his team who betrayed their constitutional duty and undermined our democracy.
From the fabricated charges, tempered evidence, incredible witness, flimsy arguments for the verdict, to the Prime Minister’s Office’s prepared press statement, all point to a political trial to end the political career of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s most feared rival.
The trial yesterday would not have taken place had the redelineation exercises in 2003 and 2005 been fair.
With 51 percent of popular votes, Anwar’s Pakatan Rakyat would have won the majority of parliamentary seats on May 5, 2013.
Anwar, who was acquitted of the charges in the High Court in January 2012, would have been sworn in as prime minister and the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) would not have filed the appeal.
Now, Anwar not only has to serve a fiveď year jail term, but will be barred from running in elections for another five year until 2025, when he is 77 years old. This is all because of the excessive malapportionment and gerrymandering of constituencies which resulted in Pakatan receiving only 40 percent of Parliament seats despite winning the popular votes.
The peril of unfair redelineation is far reaching and connected to the other flaws of Malaysia’s electoral one-party state, such as the partisan conduct of police and judiciary.
In fighting against the injustice on Anwar and by extension democracy of Malaysia, Engage urges Malaysians to stay vigilant and stand up to fight the EC’s unscrupulous scheme to malapportion and gerrymander constituencies to eliminate electoral threat for Najib and Umno/BN.
The glorious example set by Sarawakians in filing 64 objections and taking the EC to court for the first time in history after the first display of the EC’s redelineation proposal should be made the yardstick for the second display and also for the rest of Malaysia.
If we don’t watch over the EC’s work now, we will be creating the room for more injustices like what struck Anwar yesterday.
THOMAS FANN is the chairperson of Engage, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to encouraging and empowering citizens to get engaged with nation-building.
