Electoral reforms: Sweet words won't cut it, Bersih tells PM

Electoral reforms: Sweet words won't cut it, Bersih tells PM

Published: May 25, 2024 5:26 PM


While praising Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for being the first premier to meet Bersih, the electoral watchdog said sweet words alone are insufficient when it comes to implementing electoral reforms.

“We laud Anwar for being the first prime minister to meet us.

“However, good ties and sweet words won’t cut it. We want to see action and implementation (of electoral reforms),” said Bersih executive director Ooi Kok Hin during a congress held at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall today.

He added that after 25 years of Anwar spearheading the reformasi movement, Bersih has yet to see even an effort being made to ensure reforms occur.

“It’s been 548 days since Anwar took power but nothing happened. This is upsetting,” he said, adding that the administration has enough information and resources to implement the reforms.

On Feb 28, Bersih met with Anwar amid its push for the government to enact reforms.

It said the premier agreed in principle to some of the 10 reforms it presented during the meeting.

Bersih executive director Ooi Kok Hin

“The prime minister stated that he agreed in principle to several things, however, there were several reforms that he felt needed further discussion,” the group said.

In a separate statement about the meeting, Anwar said some of the reforms Bersih proposed to him were already being considered and acted on by the government. However, he did not go into detail.

According to Ooi, Putrajaya knows of the issues plaguing the nation and requires no additional convincing to act.

“In 2018, the Elections Commission did make some improvements in terms of handling the electoral process but it was not enough as the system itself needs an overhaul,” he added.