Civil society has said that changing the country’s top federal and state leaders periodically would bring about an improvement to the country, as it eliminates corruption and the abuses of power.

Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat (Komas) appeared to second this opinion when they announced that NGOs in their electoral demands want to limit the tenure of the prime minister, menteri besar, and chief minister to only two terms.

“(At present,) they (top leaders) can be there until they die... the point is, we can’t say ‘enough is enough’ to them,” said Komas director Jerald Joseph during the launching of 'the Malaysian Civil Society GE13 Demands' in Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning.

When approached later, he explained that the long-serving top leader could entrench himself to practise cronyism.

“If someone stays (in power) long enough, nobody dares to criticise the (problem) of the institutional weaknesses.

“(Hence,) the changing of top leaders will bring about the improvement of Malaysia,” he added.

Apart from this, some of the other items in the 20-point demands are:

  • The establishment of an Equality Act to promote racial equality and non-discrimination,
  • Automatic voting eligibility for 18-year-olds,
  • 60 percent of the gas and petroleum revenue to be given to the producing states,
  • A progressive inheritance tax,
  • Elected representatives to the senate, and
  • Allocation of at least 10 percent of GDP in the annual budget to healthcare.
NGOs Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) Civil Rights Committee, and the Centre for Orang Asli are among the 34 endorsees on the demands.

They requested that the BN and Pakatan Rakyat candidates support their demands.

Suaram executive director E Nalini, who was present at the time, said that the hard copy of their demands will be sent to both BN and Pakatan for their attention.

    

The NGOs’ demands may be viewed at the Suaram official website and on the social media websites.