Newly-appointed Election Commission (EC) chairperson Mohd Hashim Abdullah will be making arrangements to visit local NGOs, including Bersih.

Speaking at his first press conference in Putrajaya today, Hashim said he intends to discuss concerns raised.

“We have planned several programmes including visits to local television stations in order to explain the EC’s role.

“I have also discussed with my officers […] we will pay courtesy visits. We will visit all NGOs,” he said.

Asked if these NGOs would include Bersih, Mohd Hashim said: “Yes. All NGOs.”

Bersih had organised several major rallies to demand for free and fair elections.

Among its latest concerns include the recently concluded redelineation exercise in Sarawak that was done ahead of the next state election.

In a media statement later, the EC explained that his statement referred to meeting NGOs in general and not Bersih specifically.

Regular engagements

Responding to this, Maria said Bersih was ready to welcome Mohd Hashim any time he chose to visit them.

"Of course he can come. He can even come next week. We have prepared a full list of things that the EC needs to address.

"We are looking forward to regular engagements with the EC, especially before the Sarawak election," she told Malaysiakini .

She added that Bersih 2.0’s persistent calls on the EC were due to its perceived reluctance to implement much-needed reforms as demanded by various civil society organisations.