Parliamentary Select Committee chairman Maximus Ongkili is of the view that a Jan 1, 2012 implementation of its 10 electoral reform recommendations is "asking too much".
KUALA LUMPUR: The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms expects to get feedback from the government and the Election Commission (EC) on its 10 recommendations before the end of the year.
Speaking to reporters at Parliament today, PSC chairman Maximus Ongkili said the committee will also seek feedback on a time-line for the implementation of suggestions made in the interim report.
“We hope to get feedback in two weeks, before the end of the year,” he said after the PSC report was approved by the Dewan Rakyat.
Earlier today, while debating the matter, many opposition parliamentarians welcomed the PSC interim report, but said that there were “no guarantee” that the suggestions may come into force before the next general election.
The report, which was officially tabled today, touched on many contested issues such as the implementation of indelible ink, expansion of oversea absentee voters policy to all Malaysians living abroad and even the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to look into alleged illegal immigrants who are offered citizenship and are subsequently turned into voters.
The report stated that all recommendations should be considered before the upcoming polls.
Jan 1 deadline ‘too much’
Ongkili, who is Kota Marudu MP, however said that Ipoh Timur MP, Lim Kit Siang’s suggestions for the PSC recommendation be implemented by Jan 1 next year, was “asking too much”.
“We have to ask the EC how much more manpower is required and how much it is going to cost (to implement the said recommendations).
“(To implement them) by Jan 1 is asking a bit too much.
“But in three weeks’ Mimos can already work on verifying the electoral roll,” he said, alluding to Mimos Bhd, a strategic agency under purview of the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti).
The PSC report had recommended that Mimos oversee verifications on several hotly contested issues such as two voters with same identification cards, many voters registered under the same address and deceased voters who are still on the electoral roll, among others.
Islamic concerns
Ongkili expressed hope that the indelible ink issue could be implemented in two months as the PSC was informed that the Attorney-General’s (AG) Chambers has already drafted the regulation pertaining to the indelible ink.
He also said that the National Fatwa Council will be consulted over the concerns that Muslims may object to the use of indelible ink as it may hinder them from performing prayer.
He was responding to the matter which was brought up by Pasir Mas MP, Ibrahim Ali, earlier during the debate.
Ibrahim said that there is concern that when indelible ink is used on Muslims, they cannot perform prayer rituals.
The concern stamps from the fact that the ink cannot be immediately removed.
Muslims are to wash themselves clean and not have any residue of dirt or marking on them before prayer.
Ongkili, in his winding-up speech in the Dewan, said that Chemistry Department and other scientists will be consulted over the use of the ink.
“PSC will also make sure that the use of the ink is halal before endorsing it. But there are other Muslims countries that use the indelible ink such as Indonesia and Bangladesh,” he said.
Impose restrictions
Ongkili added that he was happy that the preliminary report was tabled, as it was a “first mile-stone”.
He expected for the full PSC report to be tabled in four months or the tail-end of the March parliamentary sitting.
Meanwhile, during the debate on the report, the only BN MP to debate the matter, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, said that restrictions should be placed on Malaysian overseas-absentee voters to be eligible as voters.
The Kota Belud MP said that Malaysians residing abroad should be required to come back to Malaysia for a stipulated time to be counted as voters.
“They lived abroad for many years so much so that they term rojak as salad. How can the future of the country be determined by those who have left the country?
“Even in Singapore, those living abroad have to come back once a year. If those residing abroad come back once or twice a year, then maybe they can be allowed to vote,” he said.
