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?

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● 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 : my@sarawakrose.orgFB : www.facebook.com/sarawakrose