The Bersih-backed election monitoring group, Pemantau, reiterates that it would not interfere with the electoral process in any way.

Instead, it would only monitor the conduct of elections from beyond the restricted areas, fixed at 50 metres away from nomination, polling and counting centres.

The work of monitoring these areas around the centres would be left solely to observers accredited by the Election Commission (EC).

election monitoring group pemantau bersih "This shall complement them and help to deter fraudulent practices such as vote-buying, violence, undue influence, and intimidation, and abuse of public resources," said the group's coordinator Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh ( right ).

He was responding to assistant head of the Inspector-General of Police (Public Relations) Secretariat ACP Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf's April 15 statement in which he reportedly said that the police would not allow any election monitoring except by the force and the Election Commission.

This was reportedly because the police already has its own mechanism to monitor the election.

Ramli was also quoted by Bernama as saying that the police have received many applications to be election monitors, but Syed Ibrahim said his group has not done so.

Syed Ibrahim also said that his group acknowledges that it is the police’s role to ensure safety during the election, and said Pemantau would only contribute by alerting the police of any violence and misconduct.

'More volunteers still joining'

Thus far, he said some 2,000 volunteers have trained under Pemantau out of the 10,000 targeted, but more are still joining.

They will be deployed to monitor 55 parliamentary constituencies across Malaysia that are deemed to have “historically high incidences of election offences, spike of new voter registrations, or contested by top politicians,” said Syed Ibrahim.

election monitoring group pemantau bersih These include Pekan, Lembah Pantai, Indera Mahkota, Subang, Gelang Patah, Kulai and Lumut.

These monitors will be equipped with a guide book of do’s and don’ts, a yellow clipboard filled with report cards and incident report forms, and a bright yellow bib that reads ‘Pemantau’ (Monitor) at the back and ‘Pemantau Pilihanraya’ (Election Monitor) at the front.

The group will also be experimenting with an Android smartphone application to file their reports.

On another note, Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah ( above ) added that Pemantau intends to issue a press release every few days about the conduct of elections, a preliminary report within 24 hours of the poll results being tabulated, and a final report about a month after.

 

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