It's on Jazeera and BBC News (click to view)
View Videos here:-
Video 1 , Video 2 and Video 3
KUALA LUMPUR, 6pm -
A mass rally organized by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) to demand for electoral reforms managed to successfully hand over a memorandum to HM Yang diPertuan Agong (the King) despite persistent actions by the police to deter and intimidate the crowd.
The crowd then decided to make its way to the National Palace after the original venue of the rally, Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) was completely cordoned by the police.
In the last two days prior to today’s event and right up to today, the police and the government had pledged to come down hard on the participants of the gathering.
Police had tried to stop the participants with water cannons and teargas at the four meeting points (Masjid Jamek, Central Market, Sogo and Masjid Negara) as well as when the crowd tried to make their way to the National Palace, but later allowed them to proceed.
The crowd in total was estimated at between 40,000 and 50,000, making this the biggest public gathering in the country. Needless to say, that figure would have been much higher had the police not prevented the people from attending the rally.
The memorandum was handed over to palace officials between 3.45pm and 4pm. The delegation included Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Advisor to Parti Keadilan Rakyat-PKR), Lim Guan Eng (Sec-Gen of the Democratic Action Party-DAP), Lim Kit Siang (Parliamenatry Opposition Leader-DAP), Dato’ Seri Haji Hadi Haji Awang (President of Parti Islam SeMalaysia-PAS), Dato’ Kamaruddin Jaafar (Sec-Gen of PAS), Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad (central committee member of PAS), Teresa Kok (MP for Seputeh-DAP) and Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (Sec-Gen of PKR) and Tan Kok Wai (MP for Cheras-DAP).
What's in the memorandum
The memorandum contained a long-term agenda for electoral reform as well as the four immediate demands which are at the core of BERSIH’s campaign, namely:
• The use of indelible ink to prevent multiple voting
• The abolition of domestic postal voting for the armed forces
• Cleanup of the electoral rolls
• Fair and equitable access to the national media
The memorandum also called on His Majesty to:
• Heed the demands of the people for widespread electoral reform, including the establishment of a Royal Commission to review and reform the electoral system
• Use his authority under Article 40(2) of the Federal Constitution to overrule any decision to dissolve Parliament as long as these four immediate demands are not met.
What's the issue on Election Commission?
Maybe this article will explain - why?
Caretaker government -when parliament or the state legislatures are dissolved and fresh elections are called.
In order to ensure a more level-playing field and limit the powers of incumbency, constitutional convention provides for a caretaker government to be formed. The basic convention is that a caretaker government, while maintaining everyday life and social order, may continue to implement existing policies but may not initiate or announce any new policy measures. The contending parties may do so, as part of their platforms or election manifestoes, in their own names. But none should do so in the name, or with the backing of the moral authority and institutional resources, of the government and state.
In Malaysia this means very little as the same government has continued to remain in power. In consequence, there are no effective checks against any abuse of power.
In Malaysia, in the absence of such constitutional checks, there is little that the Election Commission can do. The unfettered and continuing powers of incumbency make for an extremely uneven playing field, as well as for a further blurring of the boundaries between state, government and party. Rather than being underlined and strengthened during this period of “electoral interregnum”, the institutional and domain separations that are essential to modern democratic liberty are only further confused as elections loom. Major abuses of state power are made to appear routine by the intertwining of official and party functions.
In theory the King can refuse to act on the advice of the caretaker government in cases of blatant violation of these constitutional conventions, but in practice this is a dead letter.
Comments:- The IGP reported - childrens are used in the mass rally - view the videos (there's more in YouTube)- and you be the judge!
Note:- Mass rally is illegal in Malaysia. But why the rakyat participate in it without fear? There must be something wrong in the administration -and on top of that, most of them are Malays!
