PN MP seeks update on electoral reforms report in limbo since Muhyiddin era

A Perikatan Nasional lawmaker wants the government to disclose the current status of a report by the Electoral Reforms Committee (ERC) - which was established under the first Pakatan Harapan government.

Saifuddin Abdullah (PN-Indera Mahkota) wants to know how many recommendations made by the ERC have been considered, and what the government is doing to act on them.

The ERC was formed in 2018, when Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the prime minister, to explore electoral reforms, as per the name of their committee.

The committee then submitted their report in August 2020 - when PN chief Muhyiddin Yassin was prime minister. Saifuddin was also part of the Muhyiddin administration as the communications and multimedia minister.

In December 2020, then-law minister Takiyuddin Hassan told Parliament that the government had established a new committee, headed by then economic minister Azmin Ali, to review the 49 recommendations by the ERC.

Fast forward to August 2022, and then-law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the report was stuck in committee, but assured that the recommendations would be reviewed.

3 separate bodies

Among the known recommendations the ERC made was for three separate bodies to be in charge of an election.

Namely, it proposed that the Election Commission (EC) would make and implement policies relating to polls, with a separate body tasked with running an election.

A third entity - the Electoral Redelineation Commission (SPPR) - will be responsible for redelineating electoral boundaries.

Besides that, the ERC had also floated prior to submitting its final report that Malaysia's first-past-the-post electoral (FPTP) system be changed to a proportional representation system.

This is due to the flaws in FPTP, especially in multi-cornered contests when an individual can win even though they have less than 50 percent of the vote.

Among those who benefited from the FPTP flaw in the last election were Anwar Ibrahim (39.7 percent of votes in Tambun), Muhyiddin (45.9 percent in Pagoh), and Saifuddin himself (44.7 percent).

COMMENT | Anwar has bought Harapan time

Electoral reforms report stuck in committee two years after completion

Harapan needs to keep options open - Kian Ming

Minister: Lawmakers who quit party can contest seats under anti-hopping law

Why recall elections could work better than anti-hopping law in Malaysia

Bersih: PM contenders must commit to multi-partisan governance