by Joe Fernandez
ANALYSIS The Opposition Alliance, Pakatan Rakyat (PR), should seize the moral high ground on the 13th General Election concluded on May 5 and refuse to concede defeat without putting up a fight of its life over the Barisan Nasional (BN) seizing victory from the jaws of defeat through means more foul than fair. If PR refuses to concede defeat, BN cannot claim any legitimacy in Government.
It’s now or never! Ini Kali Lah!
PR has estimated that it’s not happy with the counting process in well over 20 parliamentary seats alone which would have taken it pass the 112 seat threshold. The errant counting process must be coupled with the revelations so far at the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in Sabah which is set to resume its hearings very soon.
Besides, there are other factors to consider like illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls in Malaya as well, brushed aside ever so often by the Election Commission (EC), and which make the entire gazetting process of the rolls inherently null and void from the beginning.
A gazette is not law but merely the publication of a government announcement. Surely, it cannot be the intention of Parliament to allow the gazetting of tainted electoral rolls.
It’s not a question of closing the stable doors after the horses have bolted.
The Opposition has raised various malpractices with the EC on numerous occasions but has always been given the short end of the stick on their constant complaints. The Opposition, being rather naïve on their part, deluded themselves into thinking for a while that the extent of electoral fraud would not be perpetrated to a degree that would affect the outcome.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened on May 5. The election results corrupted by malpractices which affected the outcome are inherently null and void. Such errant votes must be discounted for the actual tally to be known.
The media has reported the complaints of voters who found that they couldn’t cast their votes because someone else had apparently stolen their identity and beaten them to it. Such complaints could be the tip of the iceberg considering that not all registered voters turned out to cast their votes. This would not prevent rogue elements from getting mercenaries to vote on behalf of the absentee voters.
There could be eligible voters who did not bother to register themselves but were registered anyway by other rogue elements who could have shepherded mercenaries to vote on behalf of such “voters”.
How many dead voters still on the electoral rolls turned up to vote?
These things have happened in the past in Sabah as raised with the EC by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Supreme Council member Christina Liew Chin Jin Hadhikusumo in Sabah. She had discovered some two dozen 100-year-olds still on the electoral rolls and who had reportedly “turned up to vote in elections”. It’s not known whether the 100-year-olds turned up on May 5.
The bottom line is whether the extent of ineligible people voting affected the outcome of the elections.
There are various approaches which can be taken in the event that PR cannot concede defeat.
For starters, the Opposition needs to take up the counting process with the EC which would be well advised to stop being a BN lackey and take heed of objections and either provide the necessary and acceptable clarifications or make rectifications. The infamous postal votes are a sore point as well as the not so indelible ink. In the meantime, it cannot rush to gazette the election results.
The matter of objections would also mean that the EC should not inform the Chief Secretary to the Government that any coalition or party has won the 13th General Election.
In case the EC stubbornly decides to bulldoze its way through to the Chief Secretary’s Office, the Opposition should take up the matter with the Secretary of the Palace who can then advise the King accordingly.
No Government must be sworn into office in Putrajaya until and unless the real winner can be determined in a definitive manner by the EC, the Election Court or the King.
The question of the BN chairman Najib Abdul Rahman laying claim to the Prime Minister’s position in the meantime does not arise. The King would not be able to conclude by any stretch of the imagination that Najib commands the confidence of the majority of the Parliament “elected” on May 5. There should be a vetting process on this.
Not all MPs in Sabah and Sarawak are happy with Najib and they should be allowed to have their say on the issue of who should be Prime Minister i.e. Najib, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim or someone else. The matter should be put to vote among the MPs whose victories are not in dispute.
Within Najib’s own party, Umno, the Tengku Razaleigh faction may not be on the same page as the party president and coalition chief.
The Election Court may not be the ideal solution if it continues to take the view that the electoral rolls, once gazetted, cannot be challenged. Such a law is unconstitutional and against the principle of Rule of Law but assuming the electoral rolls are not challenged, the gazette itself and gazetting process can be challenged.
There’s a risk here that the Court will fall back on technicalities, aided by the Attorney General, and knock out any electoral petition. It has happened before and can happen again.
The swearing in of the MPs can be delayed except where both sides of the divide agree on a list of seats which are not in dispute. Such MPs may be able to facilitate the summoning of Parliament and its opening by the King.
The King can also step in and swear in an Interim Government composed of both sides of the divide in Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak. This would call for the sharing of Federal Cabinet and government posts among the three territories until a regular Government can be set up.
The Interim Government would be the best way for BN to avoid getting into tricky legal grounds following the not so clean and not so fair elections on May 5.
No matter what happens as we go forward in the days and weeks ahead, and even months, it’s clear that except for Umno, the BN is deader than dead in Malaya. It cannot be business as usual, a point which was made on Sat 8 Mar, 2008 after the 12th GE.
The BN is alive and kicking in Sabah and Sarawak where it continues to be mauled by the Opposition.
The 2011 Sarawak election was a watershed as the Opposition took 16 seats in the state assembly.
Fast forward to 2013, the Opposition has taken 12 seats in the Sabah state assembly and three parliamentary seats and another six parliamentary seats in Sarawak.
There are 165 parliamentary seats in Malaya. PR has taken 80 seats and BN 85 seats.
In Sabah and Sarawak, the question is whether the BN’s 48 parliamentary seats in Borneo are still pledged to continue supporting BN in Malaya or whether it will have any qualms in defecting to the PR camp if they are given the short end of the stick as in 2008. It was then Borneo which saved Umno in Malaya.
The refusal of Putrajaya to reward Sabah and Sarawak in the wake of the political tsunami in 2008 forced the Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) to quit the BN on 17 Sept, 2008. The pullout took place a day after the 16 Sept, 2008 People’s Revolution envisaged by PR failed to materialize for various reasons including the commencement of the Sodomy II prosecution against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The fear is that Sun 5 May, 2013 may be a repeat of Sat 8 Mat, 2008 and both Sabah and Sarawak will continue to be stubbornly shortchanged by Putrajaya even as PR waits in the wings.
Malaya cannot continue to hog the Federal Government which the 1963 Malaysia Agreement holds should be shared with Sabah and Sarawak in equal partnership.
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