> SPR TIPU PENGUNDI - PROF. JOMO

> > > I am shocked and disappointed by the caretaker Prime Minister's response > to my attempt to ensure that 680,000 mainly young Malaysians will be > allowed to exercise their right to vote in the forthcoming general > election. I am not a member of any political party and have no > intention of standing in the general election, but believe that it is my > right as a citizen to ensure that we can vote when we choose to - as > ensured by the Constitution.

> > Many of my colleagues have been politically active, mainly in the ruling > coalition; many university lecturers have gone on to become ministers, > one even becoming his first Deputy Prime Minister (Tan Sri Musa Hitam); > two of my former deans have served him as deputy ministers, one of whom > became a Mentri Besar. Although they were active in party politics > while still in the university, many of us have always defended their > right to do so although we have not done so ourselves.

> > In attacking me for not registering earlier, the BN controlled media > suggested that it is one's democratic obligation to register to vote, > and presumably, to ensure that all those registered exercise their right > to vote. Now, I am being attacked for acting on their advice.

> > Over 680,000 new voters registered over six months ago in April-May 1999 > to vote; they constitute almost seven per cent of those registered to vote. > Since only > about 70% of those registered actually vote, THE 680,000 CONSTITUTE > ALMOST TEN PER CENT of those who will vote. Obviously, they could > decisively influence the outcome of the election.

> > In most years, only around 200,000 people sign up to vote. The > additional half million or so who signed up this year were probably > moved by the events of the last 16 months to sign up. This is probably > why we, mostly young Malaysians, are not being allowed to vote in the > forthcoming tenth general elections.

> > Tun Salleh Abas - the widely respected former Solicitor General and Lord > President - has advised us that the refusal of the Election Commission > to allow the newly registered voters to vote on 29 November 1999 - > ostensibly because the preparation and revision of the 1999 electoral > roll are not complete - is not justified by Article 119 (4) of the > Malaysian Constitution on "Qualification of electors" which reads:

> > "119(4): In this article 'qualifying date' means the date by reference > to which the electoral rolls are prepared or revised."

> > Under Article 119(1), any citizen who has attained the age of 21 years > on the "qualifying date" is entitled to vote in any election unless > disqualified. The "qualifying date" is "the date by reference to which > the electoral rolls are prepared and revised". The rolls were prepared > and revised in April and May this year, i.e. when the Election > Commission invited applications for registration of new voters or > revision of the old ones.

> > The Constitution does not speak of "completion of the preparation or > revision". The "qualifying date" must therefore be the date when the > preparation or revision of the rolls commences. The Constitution does > NOT define the qualifying date as the date of the completion of the > registration or revision. Hence, the Election Commission's claim that > the exercise of the voting rights of the new voters depends upon the > completion of the preparation and revision of the electoral rolls > amounts to an unconstitutional denial of our right to vote.

> > Parliament was also told that it was not unusual for the Election > Commission to take eight months to prepare its electoral roll. The > Election Commission needing nine months to revise its electoral register > is laughably embarrassing. In countries requiring prior registration in > order to vote, people can still vote by registering just before voting; > in the forthcoming New Zealand general election on 27 November, for > instance, one can register the day before polling day.

> > Indonesia - a supposedly backward country in comparison to Malaysia with > ten times our population, 125 million Indonesian voters and more than > 300,000 polling stations spread throughout the vast archipelago - took > only NINE DAYS to finalise and to issue the final list of registered > voters. Two months after the registration of voters from April 5 to May > 4 this year, the voters were all set for voting on June 7. > [See http://www.asiasociety.org/publications/indonesia/#Table 2; Also > see 'Timetable for the Elections' and 'Managing the Elections' on the > web site.]

> > In Cambodia, the 1993 election (the first since the 1960s) was organised > under far worse conditions. The process taken to register Cambodian > voters was more tedious and problematic as the country was unfamiliar > with national elections and lacked the infrastructure that would have > eased registration, e.g. Cambodians did not have identity cards, and > determining Cambodian citizenship was hardly straightforward. In > Malaysia, there is no war, the infrastructure is much better, all the > voters have identity cards, the Registration Department and the Election > Commission are computerised, all the officials have been trained and > this is not our first election (as in Cambodia), but our tenth.

> > Ministers in the last government told Parliament before its dissolution > that there have been instances in previous general elections when voters > could not vote because the new electoral rolls being prepared by the > Election Commission were not ready when Parliament was dissolved. This > is simply untrue. In fact, there has never been a previous occasion in > the past nine general elections since 1959 when new voters who had > registered were disenfranchised supposedly because the new electoral > roll was not ready.

> > I therefore applied to the High Court to prevent such an > unconstitutional disenfranchisement of the 680,000 new voters by > requiring the Election Commission to ensure that we can vote in the > forthcoming general election.

> > The New Straits Times and Utusan newspaper groups have gone to > extraordinary lengths to criticise me for not registering earlier. If > they are sincere about wanting all Malaysians to vote, I would have > expected them to advocate compulsory voting a long ago and to criticise > its opponents. In Malaysia, voting is not compulsory, and therefore, it > is not necessary to register to vote or even to vote when one is > registered, if one is so inclined. The Alliance, the predecessor of the > National Front, objected when an opposition MP proposed compulsory > voting in the 1960s.

> > Well over twenty per cent of the eligible adult Malaysian population are > still not registered to vote, and about 30% of those registered do not > actually vote. In other words, almost half of Malaysia's adult citizens > do not vote! Revelations about dead people still being on the electoral > rolls and other phantom voters have further undermined confidence in the > legitimacy of the electoral rolls.

> > In any case, I would expect the two media groups to fully support my > current efforts to prevent the disenfranchisement of over 680,000 adult > Malaysians. I would also expect my critics, especially from among youth > and student leaders, to enthusiastically support this initiative, which > would mainly benefit the constituencies they ostensibly represent.

> > Jomo K. S.
> Professor
> 19 November 1999