Election Commission chairperson Mohd Hashim Abdullah has lambasted electoral reforms pressure group Bersih for constantly claiming that elections in Malaysia are unfair.

In an opinion piece published in Mingguan Malaysia today, Mohd Hashim said political parties have been participating in all elections in this country and in every election, competing parties will have scrutineers to monitor the process.

"How can there be cheating then? There are allegations that the EC stole some of the ballot boxes, among others. But the ballot boxes don't mean much after the results are tabulated in the forms (at the polling rooms).

"Therefore, the question is: Is Maria Chin intentionally pretending and refusing to accept that elections in Malaysia, including by-elections, in this country are conducted fairly?

"Will she only admit that the system works and is fair once Malaysia is governed by the opposition parties?" wrote Mohd Hashim.

Mohd Hashim also asked his readers to think of what was actually wrong with the electoral system.

"How is it 'unclean'? How many states is ruled by the opposition? They have seats in Parliament and the state assemblies. If EC is cheating all the time, then how could the opposition win?" wrote Mohd Hashim.

Mohd Hashim said Bersih should contact election scrutineers throughout the country to find out for themselves if the electoral process, in particular the vote counting process, is fair.

He added that Bersih should respect the choice of government by the voters and not act in an aggressive manner.

"Maria Chin shouldn't be so aggressive. If she only wants to criticise the EC and only what she says is right, then we have a problem.

"Respect the rakyat and the government who has to fulfill their pledges to the rakyat. Stop with the lies against the EC," he added.

Bersih is calling for a mass demonstration on Nov 19 - dubbed Bersih 5 - to call for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's resignation and for electoral reforms.