Nurul: EC playing divide-and-rule with Pakatan
Koh Jun LinPublished: Nov 6, 2014 1:19 AM | Updated: Nov 6, 2014 4:53 AM
The Election Commission (EC) has been playing "divide and rule" against Pakatan Rakyat politicians by making different promises to different parties.
The Election Commission (EC) has been playing "divide and rule" against Pakatan Rakyat politicians by making different promises to different parties.
PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said EC has been meeting Pakatan parties separately and lobbying for support for an increase in the number of electoral constituencies
On one hand, Nurul Izzah said, there has not been a considerable increase in the number of seats in northern states such as Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu, and politicians there are clamouring for more seats.
On the other hand, she said, seat increases have been detrimental to the performance of opposition parties since "time immemorial".
"The dynamics that is complicating the process is when you use the 'carrots' - the seats in the states - versus the national outlook of parliamentary seats.
"Most meetings are done on a one-to-one basis, with different promises to different parties," Nurul Izzah, who is the Lembah Pantai MP, told a forum last night as a member of the audience.
The forum was hosted in Kuala Lumpur by the electoral reform group Bersih to discuss the findings of the 'People's Tribunal on the 13th General Election' that it organised last year.
She urged civil society groups to continue pressuring the EC for electoral reform, as well as to remind opposition parties not to fall for EC's "charms".
On its part, Nurul Izzah said, Pakatan is organising internal workshops with the help of independent pollster Merdeka Center and Universiti Malaya's Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) to press home the point that seat increases are harmful to the coalition.
"Like I said, the state dynamics are very different from the national picture. That is the one to look out for," the PKR elections director warned.
Not without the opposition
Increasing the number of parliamentary seats requires approval from two-thirds of Parliament, while increasing the number of state seats requires approval from two-thirds of the state assembly.
EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof had said that the commission is expected to gazette the notice for redelineation by the end of the year, and that large constituencies may be divided in two.
This would be the first redelineation exercise conducted with BN in control of less than two-thirds of the Dewan Rakyat, meaning that any parliamentary seat increases would need the approval of at least 14 opposition MPs, besides the full support of the BN members.
The Pakatan coalition is also in control of more than two-thirds of the Selangor, Kelantan and Penang state assemblies, and more than one-third of the Perak, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan and Kedah state assemblies.
Former Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan (right) said Pakatan should leverage on this as the bargaining chip to pressure the EC to improve the electoral system.
In particular, Ambiga said, Pakatan would be doing civil society groups a favour if it refuses to discuss seat increases until it cleans up the discrepancies in the electoral roll.
"Nurul said that the EC is being 'really charming and nice' to the opposition because EC needs a two-third majoritys in Parliament for seat increase.
"That is why they are being so nice and charming. So as I said, please do not accept this seat increase as it stands, because until the system changes, I don't think we should do anything as drastic as that.
"I really urge the opposition parties to think carefully about this," said Ambiga, who is now the patron for the NGO Negaraku.
PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said EC has been meeting Pakatan parties separately and lobbying for support for an increase in the number of electoral constituencies
On one hand, Nurul Izzah said, there has not been a considerable increase in the number of seats in northern states such as Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu, and politicians there are clamouring for more seats.
On the other hand, she said, seat increases have been detrimental to the performance of opposition parties since "time immemorial"."The dynamics that is complicating the process is when you use the 'carrots' - the seats in the states - versus the national outlook of parliamentary seats.
"Most meetings are done on a one-to-one basis, with different promises to different parties," Nurul Izzah, who is the Lembah Pantai MP, told a forum last night as a member of the audience.
The forum was hosted in Kuala Lumpur by the electoral reform group Bersih to discuss the findings of the 'People's Tribunal on the 13th General Election' that it organised last year.
She urged civil society groups to continue pressuring the EC for electoral reform, as well as to remind opposition parties not to fall for EC's "charms".On its part, Nurul Izzah said, Pakatan is organising internal workshops with the help of independent pollster Merdeka Center and Universiti Malaya's Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) to press home the point that seat increases are harmful to the coalition.
"Like I said, the state dynamics are very different from the national picture. That is the one to look out for," the PKR elections director warned.
Not without the opposition
Increasing the number of parliamentary seats requires approval from two-thirds of Parliament, while increasing the number of state seats requires approval from two-thirds of the state assembly.
EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof had said that the commission is expected to gazette the notice for redelineation by the end of the year, and that large constituencies may be divided in two.
This would be the first redelineation exercise conducted with BN in control of less than two-thirds of the Dewan Rakyat, meaning that any parliamentary seat increases would need the approval of at least 14 opposition MPs, besides the full support of the BN members.
The Pakatan coalition is also in control of more than two-thirds of the Selangor, Kelantan and Penang state assemblies, and more than one-third of the Perak, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan and Kedah state assemblies.
Former Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan (right) said Pakatan should leverage on this as the bargaining chip to pressure the EC to improve the electoral system.In particular, Ambiga said, Pakatan would be doing civil society groups a favour if it refuses to discuss seat increases until it cleans up the discrepancies in the electoral roll.
"Nurul said that the EC is being 'really charming and nice' to the opposition because EC needs a two-third majoritys in Parliament for seat increase.
"That is why they are being so nice and charming. So as I said, please do not accept this seat increase as it stands, because until the system changes, I don't think we should do anything as drastic as that.
"I really urge the opposition parties to think carefully about this," said Ambiga, who is now the patron for the NGO Negaraku.
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