The majority of the public universities have agreed to allow the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) to monitor the campus elections this year, following previous allegations of scare tactics, irregularities and money politics during the annual exercise.

Commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan told malaysiakini that a meeting between the commission and representatives of the student affairs department of the universities had been held two weeks ago at Suhakam's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Of the 17 universities invited to the meeting, 10 sent representatives - including Universiti Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Suhakam, he said, requested the universities to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner, when it is held either later this month or early next month.

Hamdan said the university representatives had said they would "try their best".

"We also asked whether Suhakam could monitor the campus elections, to which they had no objections. We will work closely with the campus authorities this time," Hamdan said when contacted yesterday.

"The previous obstruction we faced was (a result of) the vice-chancellors (getting the) impression that we only listen to students and (that we were out to) make trouble for them," he said.

"But we have since explained to them we want to hear from them too and to investigate (the claims) thoroughly."

No request yet

Asked whether Suhakam is prepared to conduct the monitoring, Hamdan said: "We will look into it. We will co-operate with the universities. The students have not submitted their official request (for monitoring) to Suhakam."

Last year, Suhakam had sought the approval of the higher education ministry and university authorities to monitor the campus elections after receiving a number of memoranda from students' groups. However, the commission was given the runaround.

The ministry's parliamentary secretary Dr Adham Baba was reported as questioning Suhakam's capacity to monitor the elections and argued that there is no provision under the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) to allow an external body to monitor the campus polls.

At present, there is no independent body to oversee the campus elections as the polls are conducted by an election commission in each campus, headed by the deputy vice-chancellor of student affairs.

A students' coalition, the Malaysian Students Solidarity, issued a statement last week urging Suhakam, human rights bodies Human Rights Society of Malaysia (Hakam) and Suaram to monitor the campus polls.

Support for Suhakam

Hakam and Suaram, when contacted for comments, threw their support behind Suhakam as the official monitor of the campus elections.

Hakam deputy chief Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said the commission is the best body for this since it is a statutory body established to oversee violations of human rights and to recommend steps to rectify problems.

Malik said Hakam is interested in seeing free and impartial campus polls and that it is willing to assist "all actors in the scenario", including Suhakam, to monitor the elections.

He also rebutted the ministry's argument that Suhakam is not empowered to monitor the polls, saying "in the interests of transparency and accountability, no objection should be raised to Suhakam monitoring the polls".

Suaram co-ordinator Chang Lih Kang said he would write to local universities to seek permission for monitoring, noting that campus authorities should not turn down the application if they had nothing to hide.

"There have been many allegations of irregularities, which have resulted in the students losing faith in the authorities. So, why not let an external body monitor the polls?" he asked.

Chang, a former student leader, also strongly objected to the implementation of the electronic voting system in certain universities. He said this was against the principles of natural justice because there is no mechanism for check and balance in such a system.