A team of social activists launched a new group yesterday to lobby would-be candidates in the upcoming general election to uphold principles of participatory democracy.

Calling themselves the Civil Society Initiatives for Parliamentary Reform (CSI-Parliament), the group of 21 activists from various fields would endorse candidates who pledge to uphold the mission statement outlined by the group.

The mission statement, which calls for parliamentary and institutional reform towards good governance, among others calls for:

  • Upholding the Federal Constitution and protecting human rights
  • Ensuring free and fair election of members of the legislature and executive
  • Upholding the independence of the judiciary
  • Ensuring that federal, state and local legislatures advance rather than restrict individual freedom and rights
  • Establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC)
  • Making the Anti-Corruption Agency accountable to Parliament

citizen initiative parliament 010208 chandrasegaran So far, CSI-Parliament has endorsed six individuals who would be contesting in the upcoming polls: Business executive A Chandrasegaran ( left ), activists Charles Santiago, Edward Lee and Zaitun Kassim as well as DAP politicians Ronnie Liu and Tony Pua.

Pledge of support

At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, CSI-Parliament officially endorsed Chandrasegaran during a short ceremony. He is expected to contest for the Rawang state seat as an independent candidate.

CSI-Parliament spokesperson and prominent lawyer Haris Ibrahim explained that the group would endorse candidates who sign a pledge of support their mission statement.

"In turn, CSI-Parliament would help the candidates in any way we can during the campaign period," said Haris.

The CSI-Parliament mission statement which Haris dubbed as a "citizens’s wish list" would be distributed to the public soon.

"We will try to educate the public on why such reforms are necessary and why they should support candidates who align themselves to such principles," he added.