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Fighting Political Corruption throughVoter/Community Empowerment
Forum: Issues and Challenges of Tackling Corruption in Malaysia By IDEAS
6th August 2016
The R.O.S.E. JourneyFrom GE-13 to Present
Citizen-initiated | Citizen-driven
VOTER REGISTRATION
PRU-132013 ?
R.O.S.E. Voter Registration Volunteers
PRU-132013 ?
CITIZENS’ & VOTERS’ RIGHTS
RAISING AWARENESS of
Kursus Kesedaran Sivik Projek Rumah Baru
ELECTORAL REFORM Partners : Tindak Malaysia and Bersih(DART)
Redelineation Exercise
ROSE mobilized 116 objectors to file in a Letter of Objection for P196 Stampin
PA|CA|BA @ KAMPUNG
ROSE’s Vision To see ordinary Sarawakians participate and
engage in the democratic process necessary in nation-building.
ROSE’s Mission● Create awareness & empower voters and
citizens about their democratic rights● Cleaner and Fairer Elections
How level is the Playing Field in Sarawak?
-
● Political Patronage ● Vote-buying
dominates
BRIBERY-Section 10 of the Election Offences Act 1954- is undemocratic, disrupts fair competition and principle of voting with
your conscience and of course illegal and should be eliminated in any elections
In summary, vote–buying is the giving, offering or promising of money, favours or jobs/contracts in exchange for getting a person’s vote for a candidate.
Effects of Vote-Buying
“It is undemocratic whether voters sell their votes out of a fear of losing minor payoffs, or out of a feeling of obligation to reciprocate, or out of a desire to be sure of securing a desired benefit now;…it is undemocratic in that it keeps vote sellers from having their interests accurately interpreted and made known, and in that it leaves them less autonomous than are the recipients of politically motivated public programs. In addition to being undemocratic, it has bad consequences, skewing public policy, creating inefficiencies, and reducing the supply of public goods. In light of these conclusions, the imperative is to search for ways to reduce vote buying in today’s developing democracies.”[Susan C. Stokes, “Is vote buying undemocratic?”, Elections for Sale: The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying, ed. Frederic C. Schaffer (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2007), pp. 99–100]
● Misuse/wastage of public resources● Unequal access to win public office; only the wealthy candidate or groups can muster● The interests of vote-sellers are not accurately interpreted and made known*● Voters selling their interest to the highest bidder● Voters become less autonomous
Apart from cash handouts to voters and groups, in a parliamentary reply, Minister in the PM’s department
Azalina Othman said that programs and projects worth RM792 million are being implemented in the run up to
the Sarawak State elections
Bersih’s Pemantau team observed and documented announcements of Federal funding of a total sum of RM560 million and care-taker State government announcements of funding/launching
of projects worth of RM700million (inclusive of Baleh Dam Road of RM561 million)
According to Bridget Welsh, academic and writer, she estimates that every voter in Sarawak in terms of project allocation is about RM5000 per voter!
http://www.newmandala.org/its-raining-money-in-sarawak/
Treating - Section 8 of the Election Offences Act 1954
Treating by Political Parties across both Divides
Other corrupt practices
• Undue Influence; eg. if you do not vote so and so we would / would not...
• Use of government machinery and resources;
• Illegal campaigning, including unauthorised expenditures
● banning of politicians/ imposing of travel limits on political party workers / volunteers into Sarawak just before the last state elections
What can WE do about vote-buying?
Voter education*****QUIZ*****
● VOTER EDUCATION WORKSHOPS; including raising awareness of effects of selling their vote.
● Raise locals as ELECTION-OBSERVERS and campaigners within locality to complain and report vote-buying and other election irregularities and offences; discourage and deter?
● Citizen-driven CAMPAIGN to lobby EC to curb and take action against vote-buying & other corrupt practices
● Dialogue with EC ● Advocate and Reform Election Commission? to
make really Independent & impartial; Strengthen ● Others?
if notUS WHO?
WHEN?NOWif not
Citizen-initiated | Citizen-driven
WEBSITE : http://www.sarawakrose.orgEMAIL : [email protected] : www.facebook.com/sarawakrose