Dr M backs polls reform, admits backlash after Bersih clampdown
PUTRAJAYA, Aug 17 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has backed Putrajaya’s decision to implement electoral reforms, admitting today the surprise measure was likely targeted to appease the “local backlash” against the Najib administration generated by its harsh clampdown of Bersih 2.0. The former prime minister shook his head when asked if Datuk Seri Najib Razak had introduced the measure to repair his international image, insisting that the latter’s purpose was more to soothe over rising discontent among the Malaysian public following the rally debacle.
“Not because of international backlash... it is his local backlash,” Dr Mahathir (picture) told reporters after launching a fund-raising campaign for Somalia’s famine victims at the Perdana Global Peace Foundation here.
The country’s longest serving prime minister then said he was “very much in support” of Najib’s announcement but was quick to repeat his previous opinion that Malaysia’s election system is less flawed than that of other nations.
He however admitted to some “hanky-panky” in the system but did not elaborate and said it was minor.
“Yes, yes, I am very much in support (of polls reform). But I must stress this, it is not something rampant as you see in countries where 99 per cent of the votes go to one particular party.
“In Malaysia, every election you will find the opposition winning seats and even winning the different states.
“So there may be some hanky-panky but generally, the elections in Malaysia are clean. Not absolutely clean, but clean,” said Dr Mahathir, who remains influential in Umno and the government.
Before the July 9 rally, Dr Mahathir had spoken out strongly against Bersih 2.0 and its electoral reform demands, claiming the election watchdog’s true purpose was not to improve the election process but to affect another political tsunami like it did in Election 2008.
The former prime minister, who, during his two-decade tenure, bore the brunt of criticisms from the opposition over allegations of electoral manipulation, had also claimed that Malaysia’s election system has always been free and fair.
Dr Mahathir previously appeared to back the government’s highly criticised pre-rally clampdown on Bersih 2.0 supporters at the time, and raised the spectre of the 1987 Operasi Lalang dragnet where his administration had used the Internal Security Act (ISA) to arrest over one hundred people.
But in his about-turn today, Dr Mahathir claimed Najib’s announcement was not an indication that the prime minister was pandering to the wishes of the opposition alone.
He claimed that, during his tenure, even the opposition parties had cheated in elections, claiming they would register large groups of voters to the same address.
“There was one house, in that address, about 50 people who were not residents were registered in that place. So this sort of things the Election Commission must look into,” he said.
The July 9 rally eventually proceeded despite a police lockdown but turned chaotic when riot police used tear gas and water cannons to break up a largely peaceful protest.
The Najib administration was roundly criticised in the international media over the incident, with his reformist image taking a major hit due to the authorities’ purportedly high-handed tactics to disperse the protest.
As such, his announcement on Tuesday to form a parliamentary select committee for polls reform appears to be a major concession that acknowledges the political fallout from his administration’s harsh clampdown on the rally.
(Sumber: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dr-m-backs-polls-reform-admits-backlash-after-bersih-clampdown)
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