Bersih today announced the creation of an executive director position which will be helmed by human rights advocate Yap Swee Seng (above).

The announcement was made by Bersih acting chairperson Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari who said Yap's appointment took effect last Friday.

"He will lead the secretariat in support of the steering committee to continue the pursuit of democratisation in Malaysia especially in electoral reform and monitoring in view of the upcoming 14th general election," he said in a statement.

Yap was the executive director of Suaram from 2006 to 2009 and also the executive director for the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia) from 2009 to 2013.

He holds a master's degree in human rights from the University of Essex, UK.

Aside from his many accomplishments, Yap is also an old-timer of Bersih as he was a part of the Bersih 1.0 steering committee (2006 -2008) when he represented Suaram who was at the time an endorsing organisation.

"He also supported the organisation with logistic works during the Bersih 4 and Bersih 5 (rallies)," said Shahrul.

Shahrul said Yap will oversee two ongoing campaigns organised by Bersih in the run-up to the 14th general election.

The campaigns are "Satukan Tenaga, Kalahkan Penipuan" which will promote institutional reform and large voter turnout to mitigate electoral manipulation and "Pemantau" which will train private citizens to act as independent election observers.