Sigh...
- Chairman of the Elections Commission needs to be extended another year when he retires at the end of this year.
- Only he can ensure that the ruling party retains control of Parliament and the State Assemblies with a clear two-thirds majority.
- The postal votes system can’t be abolished, the Chairman replied indignantly, because that would be the only way to ensure that none of the cabinet ministers get kicked out of office.
- And when asked is not the role of the Elections Commission to conduct free and fair elections, he replied, with maximum arrogance, that the role of the Elections Commission is to ensure that the Malays will not lose political domination.
- And as to why the campaign period is so short instead of a minimum of 21 days, he told the BERSIH (Coalition for Fair and Clean Election)delegation that he does not have the authority to extend the campaign period and if they are not happy with that then go see the Agong and ask the Agong to make the changes.
- So, BERSIH took its case to the Agong on 10 November 2007.
- The government is worried. Umno has accused BERSIH of ‘dragging’ the Agong into politics.
- But the Agong is aware that it was the Chairman of the Elections Commission who was the one who brushed off BERSIH and told them to go see His Majesty.
- And now the Chairman’s tenure of office is about to expire in three weeks time. Will the Agong consent to extending his tenure another year so that he can rig the 12th General Elections and make sure that the ruling party wins, yet again, hands down? This is an unknown factor.
- The Agong has already rejected the extension of the tenure of the Chief Justice, another crook. Chances are the Agong will also reject the extension of the crooked Elections Commission Chairman as well.
- So they need to bypass the Agong.
- They need to amend the law so that the tenure of the Elections Commission Chairman can be extended without the need to seek the consent of the Agong.
- And they will do this on Tuesday, 11 December 2007. On Tuesday, Parliament will pass a law allowing the government to extend the tenure of the Elections Commission Chairman another year beyond retirement age. This will therefore make the Agong irrelevant.
- The Agong’s consent will not be required. The Agong can now be bypassed.
- 11 December 2007
KUALA LUMPUR: Police dispersed Bersih (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) supporters who defied a restraining order to gather at Parliament House, arresting nearly 30 people. - The Bersih supporters had gathered at Parliament House to submit a memorandum protesting Constitutional amendments that proposed extending the Election Commission chairman and members' retirement age from 65 to 66.
- Federal Reserve Unit police personnel were stationed outside roads leading to Parliament House, and several roadblocks were also placed on all roads leading into the city this morning.
Later Tuesday, i.e. 11.12.07, the Dewan Rakyat unanimously passed the Constitution (Amendment) Bill which allows a year's extension to the retirement age of the EC chairman and members. - The amendment was passed through BLOCK VOTING, in which 189 MPs from the Barisan Nasional cast their votes during the second and third reading of the bill.
- Earlier, 16 Opposition party members walked out of the House to protest the amendment and the arrests made on Parliament grounds
