Complete with a black coffin, some 150 undergraduates staged a funeral procession in the pouring rain.

They marched from the National Mosque to the National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) office in Kuala Lumpur to protest what they claimed was the end of democracy in varsities nationwide.

Traffic came to a halt as motorists were taken aback at the sight of the 'mourners' who donned black attire and held white daisies.

Upon reaching their destination, they held a sombre ceremony to lay the 'deceased' to rest by placing flowers on top of the coffin which was the centrepiece of the protest.

It was draped with the Malaysian flag and had the words 'Campus Democracy'.

The students, from several local universities, said they organised the procession to protest alleged irregularities during the recent campus elections at the 17 local universities.

They claimed that the conduct of university authorities during the recent student elections was anything but democratic, hence the "death of university democracy".

Four uniformed policemen watched the proceedings from afar but were not seen weeping.

Later, a Malaysian Student Solidarity (SMM) representative lodged a complaint with Suhakam regarding the alleged violations during the recent campus election process.

The report was received by Suhakam commissioner N Siva Subramaniam.

Suhakam 'concerned'

Among the allegations contained in the report were the involvement of Umno leaders, threats from university officials, abuse of power by university officials and secrecy of the ballots.

The group urged Suhakam to press for a re-election besides ask for the dismissal of the various deputy vice-chancellors of student affairs at the various universities who had neglected their duties.

Noting that these complaints are not new, Siva said that there seemed to me more complaints this year regarding the campus polls. He added that the SMM's complaint would be discussed by Suhakam's monthly commissioners meeting on Monday.

Siva also said that Suhakam was 'very concerned' with the conduct of the recent campus polls, and that efforts by the body to monitor the elections were hampered by red-tape.

Student elections were held nationwide last month, but were marred by boycotts from 'anti-establishment' student factions.

Only two campuses - Universiti Malaya and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia - were not affected by the boycotts. Nevertheless, 'pro-establishment' students trounced their opposition at both these varsities.