Electoral reform watchdog Bersih 2.0 today said that disagreeing with the actions of the Election Commission (EC) cannot be considered as “politicking”, as claimed by de facto law minister Nancy Shukri recently.

“The minister appears to have failed to appreciate that it is a basic tenet of democracy for there to be disagreements,” the Bersih 2.0 secretariat said in a statement today.

The group is responding to Nancy, who recently was quoted by Bernama as saying that it is “unfair” for Bersih to attempt to stop the redelineation exercise that is to be done by the EC.

“Bersih is not politicising the issue of electoral reform but simply stating the facts of the bias and unjust measures used in the delineation which starkly favours one dominant political party over others,” it said in the statement.

It said that it is “an affront” to democracy for the commission to embark on the redelineation exercise when it does not command public confidence.

“Hence, our first demand that the present EC line-up must go,” it said.

They also rebutted Nancy’s ( right ) claim that Bersih was attempting to stop the exercise.

 

“We wish to clarify that Bersih’s action to file a court injunction to stop the redelineation is conditional - we would only resort to this if the EC increases seats without making the necessary constitutional amendments,” it said.

“In 2003 and 2005, the EC increased the seats without first amending the constitution. This time EC will not get away with such unconstitutional actions,” it further added.

 

It also said that its nine-page demands did include substantive proposals, which Nancy had urged.

 

“These proposals are grounded on evidence and facts,” it said.

 

“We wish to stress that redelineation, as with our demands, is about fair representation of the people’s will. Yet this has not happened and is not happening, as our data show - hence, our five demands,” it added.