Pairin: House panel must clean out Sabah rolls
Joseph SipalanPublished: Aug 19, 2011 3:17 AM | Updated: Aug 19, 2011 12:43 PM
The recently proposed parliamentary select committee on electoral reform should focus on a total clean-up of the electoral rolls, particularly in Sabah, said PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
The recently proposed parliamentary select committee on electoral reform should focus on a total clean-up of the electoral rolls, particularly in Sabah, said PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
Pairin, a deputy chief minister of Sabah and among the most senior politicians still active in the country, said he believed the committee announced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was well-intended and that it should pin down the numerous and long-standing issues linked to the electoral rolls.
He said there were issues that continued to be challenged by various parties to this day, such as the transparency of the voter registration process and the much-talked about phantom voters.
“It is hoped that all issues related to phantom voters, registration of non-citizens as voters, those who have already died... even if at times proof is hard to find, these (names) should be removed from the electoral rolls,” he told Malaysiakini.
Phantom voters were a major issue for Pairin in the 1994 Sabah state election when his party - which at the time headed one of a clutch of opposition-held states - saw its dominance of the state assembly slashed to a slim majority of two seats over the BN.
The federal government, then led by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed, stands accused by many Sabahans for being behind the conversion of a burgeoning illegal immigrant population into citizens and voters under the controversial ‘Project IC’.
However, the final blow that dislodged the PBS administration was a string of defections by senior party leaders to BN, just days after the state election.
Aside from spreading its influence into the “Wild East”, pundits viewed the luring of PBS elected representatives as a tit-for-tat move by Umno, which PBS ditched at the eleventh hour nine years earlier, en route to a resounding victory against the incumbent Berjaya administration in the 1985 state election.
Presence of opposition MPs crucial
Pairin, whose party has since rejoined BN, is however optimistic that the parliamentary select committee would be able to carry out its duties well, particularly with the presence of opposition MPs as members.
He said the committee, when it is formally put together come the next parliamentary meeting starting Oct 3, would be expected to get to the bottom of the numerous issues and allegations bearing down on the country’s electoral process.
Pairin, who turns 71 this year, added that the panel needed to come up with solutions on issues such as allowing eligible overseas students to cast their votes during elections, and also to settle once and for all the suspicions and scepticism surrounding postal votes.
“The presence of the opposition will help in making sure the discussions are transparent and move for reforms in the direction that is hoped by all parties,” he said.
On Wednesday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, whose various portfolios include Parliament, revealed that the government decided one a nine-member parliamentary panel comprising five from the BN, three from Pakatan Rakyat and one independent MP.
Nazri said the committee would “work on the basis” that the current term of Parliament would expire in 2013, but gave his assurance that the government would do its best to implement the committee’s recommendations “as soon as possible”.
Related stories:
PM: GE can be held anytime, no need to wait for PSC
EC says errors in electoral roll just 0.0001%
'Clean up electoral roll before adopting biometrics'
'What are the criteria for EC to amend voters roll?'
EC chief declines comment on PSC composition
Ministry wants proof of 6P-phantom voters claim
Pairin, a deputy chief minister of Sabah and among the most senior politicians still active in the country, said he believed the committee announced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was well-intended and that it should pin down the numerous and long-standing issues linked to the electoral rolls. He said there were issues that continued to be challenged by various parties to this day, such as the transparency of the voter registration process and the much-talked about phantom voters.
“It is hoped that all issues related to phantom voters, registration of non-citizens as voters, those who have already died... even if at times proof is hard to find, these (names) should be removed from the electoral rolls,” he told Malaysiakini.
Phantom voters were a major issue for Pairin in the 1994 Sabah state election when his party - which at the time headed one of a clutch of opposition-held states - saw its dominance of the state assembly slashed to a slim majority of two seats over the BN.
The federal government, then led by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed, stands accused by many Sabahans for being behind the conversion of a burgeoning illegal immigrant population into citizens and voters under the controversial ‘Project IC’.
However, the final blow that dislodged the PBS administration was a string of defections by senior party leaders to BN, just days after the state election.
Aside from spreading its influence into the “Wild East”, pundits viewed the luring of PBS elected representatives as a tit-for-tat move by Umno, which PBS ditched at the eleventh hour nine years earlier, en route to a resounding victory against the incumbent Berjaya administration in the 1985 state election.
Presence of opposition MPs crucial
Pairin, whose party has since rejoined BN, is however optimistic that the parliamentary select committee would be able to carry out its duties well, particularly with the presence of opposition MPs as members.
He said the committee, when it is formally put together come the next parliamentary meeting starting Oct 3, would be expected to get to the bottom of the numerous issues and allegations bearing down on the country’s electoral process.
Pairin, who turns 71 this year, added that the panel needed to come up with solutions on issues such as allowing eligible overseas students to cast their votes during elections, and also to settle once and for all the suspicions and scepticism surrounding postal votes.
“The presence of the opposition will help in making sure the discussions are transparent and move for reforms in the direction that is hoped by all parties,” he said.
On Wednesday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, whose various portfolios include Parliament, revealed that the government decided one a nine-member parliamentary panel comprising five from the BN, three from Pakatan Rakyat and one independent MP.
Nazri said the committee would “work on the basis” that the current term of Parliament would expire in 2013, but gave his assurance that the government would do its best to implement the committee’s recommendations “as soon as possible”.
Related stories:
PM: GE can be held anytime, no need to wait for PSC
EC says errors in electoral roll just 0.0001%
'Clean up electoral roll before adopting biometrics'
'What are the criteria for EC to amend voters roll?'
EC chief declines comment on PSC composition
Ministry wants proof of 6P-phantom voters claim
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