Ex-EC chief: Election system not dirty, just incomplete
Former Election Commission (EC) chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman has defended the nation’s electoral system as “clean”, but admitted that there are many incomplete components that are not in line with current demands.
Former Election Commission (EC) chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman has defended the nation’s electoral system as “clean”, but admitted that there are many incomplete components that are not in line with current demands.
Abdul Rashid, who served in the EC for 27 years - 17 years as secretary and 10 years as chief - further said that he is ready to challenge anyone who argues that the country’s electoral system is dirty.
He elaborated that the current system, which was framed five decades ago, was complete then but not in the present time due to changing needs of the people who have been exposed to world developments.
“It was complete but now it is not complete because people make comparisons with other countries.
“But when the people realise, (they start to question) why we don’t have this, why is this not here, that causes chaos. However, our electoral system is clean.
“Don’t look at it as though it’s crooked. The government is legitimate. They have the right (to vote),” he was quoted as saying in an interview with Sinar Harian published today.
Abdul Rashid said he is willing to share his experience and knowledge if any interested party intends to draft new laws.
“The people now are arrogant. They do not want people like me, who are not that smart. They want very smart people. Never mind. If they want me to give tips, I could give all. But people do not visit me because they think I am not smart.”
He suggested that a new electoral roll be prepared every three years after each general election through a methodology similar to that of the census to minimise the number of non-resident voters, which are often labelled as “phantom voters” by the opposition.
However this exercise would need RM50 million to be executed, he estimated.
“It is easy for this country to come up with RM50 million a year. We are talking in terms of billions. It is like conducting the census, we should do it that way,” he added.
In the first part of the interview published on Monday, Abdul Rashid supported the proposal to set up a royal commission of inquiry as pro-electoral reform group Bersih 2.0's demands and proposals by the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reforms were not holistic enough.
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