YOURSAY 'Bersih supporters might as well use the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat 2013 rally as their platform.'

No hope for reforms, but Bersih says no protest yet

Mushiro: We know that electoral reforms will not come easily as the Election Commission (EC), police and many institutions are fully controlled by Umno. And reforms will definitely cause Umno and BN to lose the GE.

But Bersih should leave the option of another rally open and in the meantime work on bringing foreign observers to monitor our GE.

Anonymous #59082512: Bersih supporters might as well use the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat 2013 rally (to be organised by the opposition on Jan 12 at the Bukit Jalil stadium) as their platform.

Jiminy Qrikert: No more Bersih rallies. If after three such rallies, each bigger than the one before, the government and the EC have done nothing to implement electoral reforms, another Bersih rally is not going to make it happen.

Instead, it will give Umno-BN the perfect excuse to unleash riots and civil unrest, followed by the suspension of parliament and the implementation of martial laws. How likely is this to happen?

If Dr Mahathir Mohamad has any lessons for us, it is this ( The Malay Dilemma ): "...it is clear that by the time the 1969 elections (read GE13) approached, all sections of the people were disenchanted with the government.

"The Malays... because... (the government) failed to correct the real imbalance in wealth and progress of the races. The Chinese demands increased as the government whetted their appetites. Over and above, these racial reactions was the increasing diminishing faith in the ability of the Alliance government to rule well."

Only this time, it will not be "racial" but simply "civil unrest requiring BN government's intervention to restore peace".

Yahoo: Umno is depending on those ‘instant citizens' from neighbouring countries to vote for BN. Maybe Bersih can influence these voters by educating them and by exposing the wrongdoings of BN.

They are already citizens of this country. Even if opposition wins the election, their citizenship status will not change. They have nothing to lose but can instead make Malaysia a better place for their children.

Anonymous_3ff5: With the current political developments in the country, Bersih steering committee knows the best strategy to push forward its struggle for electoral reforms, which still fall on deaf ears by the government.

May the spirit of Bersih street demonstrations continue to live in the minds of Malaysians who want clean and fair elections.

Kgen: By helping BN cheat, the EC is taking away our right to self-determination. Malaysians deserve the right to choose our own government, rather than having BN pushed down our throats by a dishonest EC hell-bent on keeping the ruling coalition in power.

Our EC is the most corrupt in the world, even worse than some African countries. They don't even make a pretense of impartiality. Helping BN cheat is all they do.

When the Selangor government discovered large numbers of suspicious voters on the rolls with no proper addresses, the EC promptly jumped up and say they can vote.

Anonymous #59599842: Electoral reforms? Big fat hopes. Their intentions are crystal clear - cheat, cheat, cheat. They have no shame, no self respect.

Nil: Umno-BN will win at any cost. That has been their intention and strategy all along.

You will need a miracle to change the government and for that, divine intervention is necessary. Praying is not enough - Malaysians need to appeal to God for a change to the better. The international community won't care.

AkuMelayuIslam: Only in Malaysia are some rakyat afraid of clean and fair election, which is the teaching of Islam and most religions. How strange.

Prmaju: Someone should warn the EC chairperson he will be held responsible for helping BN to cheat in election. It is treason of the highest order for denying the right of the rakyat, and he will have to face the rakyat for the consequences.

Azizan: We need all the support from the rakyat as observers because there is going to be many foreigners like Indonesians and Bangladeshis who are going to vote using their MyKads. We know this is going to be real dirty GE. Come forward, my fellow rakyat.

George_1de8: You know best, Bersih co-ordinator S Ambiga. Go ahead as planned and we will support you and your team.

Evil Man: How to have hope for reforms when the top two of EC were once Umno members ? Now this two treat EC as pro-Umno NGO, always giving political speeches.

They are already taking sides even before GE13. Bersih 2.0 and 3.0 should have demanded this two clowns to resign as the main objective. It's time for Bersih 4.0.

Theeyes82: Ambiga is saying what she thinks is right according to law. There are so many comments here suggesting she should do otherwise, which is a total puzzle.

She lead the electoral reform movement and went through the kind humiliation and harassment none of us had suffered.

We shall move forward in this coming GE13, regardless if there is protest or not.

Start by being vocal among those around us. Ask them to vote! We can make a difference. We could only rely so much on others. Let's begin with ourselves.

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