EC offers to meet Bersih if rally called off

EC chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said that Bersih’s protest would only prove fruitless as their demands could only be met through amendments to the relevant laws. — file pic

 

KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — The Election Commission (EC) offered today to meet election watchdog Bersih 2.0 to discuss its eight demands, including having free and fair elections, but on condition the group calls off a planned demonstration this July 9.

But EC chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof also said that Bersih’s protest would only prove fruitless as their demands could only be met through amendments to the relevant laws.

“We can discuss on that condition (that the rally is called off), but if they (Bersih) want to hold the illegal street demonstration and meet us just as a rubber stamp or an excuse, it is meaningless.

“To me, a street demonstration will not solve any problem. Amendments to the law will not happen or their demands accepted by staging a street demonstration. No way,” he told reporters at his office in Putrajaya today, according to Bernama Online.

Abdul Aziz admitted that he had to turn down a meeting with Bersih members earlier this year as he had been busy handling by-elections and the just-concluded Sarawak state polls on April 16 at the time.

But he also noted that he had held a meeting with Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenavasan late last year to discuss the coalition’s demands, during which the former bar council president and other Bersih members purportedly accepted his explanation.

Abdul Aziz also alleged that Bersih’s motives were politically driven and that without opposition support, the coalition would be “nothing”. He complained that the EC was being used as a scapegoat in the opposition’s ploy to gain popularity.

“This group is not behaving like other non-governmental organisations. I think they have been influenced by certain political parties. They are no more neutral, (and) no more independent. Without the support of these political parties, Bersih is nothing,” he said.

He insisted on the EC’s impartiality, claiming that the previous general election and several by-elections had proven this.

PR component parties and activists are gearing up to march on July 9 in the second such rally by election watchdog Bersih.

The first rally in 2007 saw up to 50,000 people take to the capital’s streets, before they were dispersed by police armed with tear gas and water cannons. The 2007 rally has also been credited for the PR’s record gains in Election 2008, where the opposition pact was swept to power in five states and won 82 parliamentary seats.

Among others, Bersih is demanding that the government ensure a clean and fair general election, reform the postal voting system and extend the campaign period to at least 21 days.

Umno Youth and Malay rights group Perkasa have also vowed to hold demonstrations against Bersih on the same day if the elections watchdog group carries out its promise to protest.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he would ask Bersih to stop their plans if the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government agreed to reforms. But Bersih officials said it was not up to politicians to decide the rally’s fate.