PETALING JAYA: The PKR elections, which have been besieged by “teething problems”, came in for a lot of flak from various quarters.
While its independent elections committee chief Dr Molly Cheah acknowledged there are problems, she also reminded that hiccups are to be expected in a process that is a historical first for a political party in Malaysia.
Political observers have also offered a mixed bag of solutions that could prevent the recurrence of similar issues in the next few weeks.
Bridget Welsh, an associate professor in political science at Singapore Management University, zeroed in on the vague conflict mechanism procedure.
“The election committee seems to suggest that there is a procedure for lodging complaints but people are not clear of its exact nature,” she said. “The committee must do more to inform both members and the public of this procedure so that they know how complaints are being lodged and handled.”
As of the end of last week, Cheah said the committee had received 135 complaints and objections. However, she declined to disclose the nature and status of the complaints, saying that investigations would take time.
Dr Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia has pinpointed this lack of transparency as yet another aspect that the committee needs to rectify. He also questioned the extent of the election committee's independent role.
“There is no clear separation of power between the committee and party leaders,” he said. “The election committee claims it has been given full authority over the election process but this is not being seen.”
Extra effort
Sivamurugan added that he had heard talk that those selected by the committee to monitor the polling centres had been involved in vote rigging.
“This doesn't bode well for the committee or the party,” he warned. “The election committee has to make an extra effort to show that it is adhering to its own rules and regulations by monitoring the casting of votes even more closely than it is now.”
James Chin of Monash University, however, has dismissed the idea of a fully independent election committee on the basis that the very nature of politics is never 100% transparent, free and fair.
“So what we're looking for is the highest level of (being) free and fair,” he said. “ And in the Malaysian context, achieving just 70% of that is commendable. It is too late for any quick-fixes right now. The only thing PKR can do is conduct a re-run in divisions where voting was suspended and aim for legitimate results.”
Dr Lim Teck Ghee, director of the Centre for Policy Initiatives, recommended that another briefing be held for key officials engaged in the election process.
“This is a surefire way to ensure that they are fully acquainted with all the rules and procedures and do not screw up,” he said. “Provide them with examples of ambiguities, conflict situations and discrepancies as well as guidelines on how to resolve them. There is time for damage control but only if the party leadership is pro-active and do not sit on their behinds.”
Lack of substance
Political analyst Wong Chin Huat offered a different point of view by drawing attention to the lack of substance in the contestants' campaigns.
“An election is not about the intensity of the fight but what the contestants are fighting for,” he pointed out. “And up to now we haven't seen a real debate on policies. All the contestants are focusing only on their personalities as a differentiating factor instead of their vision for the party and country's future.”
“If Pakatan Rakyat wins the next general election, PKR will be the leading party and its number two is likely to be deputy prime minister,” he added. “Have we seen that calibre among its current leadership hopefuls? I don't think so. Contestants need to stop talking about their ability of building rapport or their stream of good ideas because you can't run a Cabinet on that alone.”
However, there is still a silver lining to the cloud of chaos and neither Chin nor Welsh has lost sight of it. Chin assured that no matter what the outcome of the elections, it would undoubtedly strengthen PKR.
“This is the first time that its leadership has a chance to test its support among party members since 2008,” he noted. “And it is also a clear demonstration of the party's commitment to democracy to its members.”
Welsh, on the other hand, said that calling the elections “a mess” would be losing perspective of the big picture as only seven of the 159 divisions have faced “real trouble”.
“You have to recognise the strengths,” she said. “It's the first time that such a large number of people were allowed to vote in a party election and it's bound to be a logistical nightmare.”
“This is a difficult ballot. PKR is party that has been institutionalised very quickly and it doesn't have the same kind of machinery that other parties do. The level of check and balances is still evolving. The question is whether there have been any fundamental injustices committed during this process and right now it's too early to say that there have been.”
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