Mahathir's seemingly resounding victory in the country's tenth General Elections failed to impress either local or overseas analysts. The many biting editorials in foreign newspapers testify to the fact that Malaysian democracy has never before suffered greater disgrace than at this present time. Why the elections cannot be considered either free or fair are discussed below.

The Gerrymandering

In the tenth General Elections, Barisan Nasional garnered only 56% of the vote but secured 77% of the parliamentary seats in the country. Although Malaysia, like most democracies, does not practise proportionate representation in its system of government, the disparity between these two figures is so large as to demand an explanation. BN's achievement is the result of creative gerrymandering of electoral boundaries whereby seats that traditionally go to the Opposition can be several times larger than those that are its strongholds. Some examples:

The two largest parliamentary electorates in Penang are Bayan Baru (80,866 voters) and Bagan (70,857 voters) with 64% Chinese in each. On the other hand, the two smallest electorates in the state are Tasek Gelugor (37,814) and Kepala Batas (36,105); they have respectively 77% Malay and 72% Malay population.

In Negri Sembilan, the largest electorate is Seremban (80,935) comprising 55% Chinese and Indians while the smallest is Jelebu (37,524) with 62% Malay in its racial mix.

Sabah and Sarawak have many tiny electorates of hardly more than 20,000 registered voters in each, yet there are some surprisingly large ones such as Bandar Kuching (54,877, 90% Chinese) and Sibu (57,175, 67% Chinese). Indeed, the importance of East Malaysia to BN's victory cannot be overstated. Of the 48 seats there, BN won all but three. East Malaysia, with only 18% of total registered voters in the country has no less than 25% of total parliamentary seats.

Although the Malaysian Constitution expressly forbids too large a size disparity between electorates, we have Lubok Antu in Sarawak making do with a mere 16,555 souls while Ampang Jaya is bloated with a crowd of 98,954. Poor transportation in rural areas was once cited as the excuse for these bite-size electorates, but this would be a joke in 1999. Even if this still holds true in the head-hunting jungles of Sarawak, it is hard to see how cutting up the map into more jigsaw pieces would help reduce travel times in contrast to having more polling stations. The truth is that the present electoral boundaries greatly favour BN and are periodically amended to ensure that this remains so. Following upon the success of PAS in the last elections, one wonders whether they will be reviewed one more time.

The Mass Media

Democracy is all about making informed choices. As such, democracy is unlikely to flourish where information is tightly controlled, as in the case of Malaysia where practically all the newspapers, radio and television stations are owned by Barisan Nasional component parties or have close links with them. It is hardly possible for independently minded persons to procure a publishing licence, and even those who possess these coveted items have to renew them on an annual basis. There are broadly worded laws against sedition which serve as catch-all baskets for any opinion deemed unfavourable to those in power. Editors who do not show an attitude of sycophancy towards the ruling coalition are forced to resign. An international body of journalists earlier this year voted Mahathir one of the world's ten worst enemies of the press, hardly a distinction to be proud of.

The local media, which regularly slants, distorts and censors news for the benefit of the ruling Coalition descended to an all-time low during the run up to the tenth General Elections. Lim Kit Siang, Opposition leader, hit the nail on the head when he said: "The 1999 general election is one where the Malaysian press will forever hold their heads in shame at the most unbelievably unethical and irresponsible journalism." Many of the local dailies turned themselves into shameless BN propaganda tools, stooping even to outright lies to score points against the Opposition who had practically no right of reply. While BN parties could insert the most inflammatory, deceitful and hate-filled advertisements in the papers, Opposition parties were largely refused advertising space and the very few of their advertisements that were accepted were edited and given low prominence.

For elections to be free and fair, information must also be free and fair. Alternative viewpoints must be allowed space; the press, as watchdogs of democracy, should be able to fearlessly expose corruption and injustices arising from all quarters. Elections are a joke where the local media have turned themselves into vicious attack dogs for one side of the equation. Only in recent years has the Internet made a dent in the government's monopoly of information but it still has a way to go.

The Election Commission

To talk of free and fair elections when the Election Commission itself takes orders from the incumbent Coalition is sheer hypocrisy. That Malaysia's Election Commission is far from independent is most clearly shown by its disenfranchisement of nearly 700,000 potential voters who had registered in April and May this year. In a country wishing to make its mark on information technology, the Commission claimed to require an unbelievably sluggish nine months to process these voters. Not even Indonesia, with 125 million voters scattered over several thousand islands needed such an age while New Zealanders could register up to the day before polling. It will be more accurate to say that the processing will be completed by T+1 month where T is the polling day as decided by Mahathir. The Commission seemed only too glad to comply with the Prime Minister's publicly stated wish for a short election campaign, allowing only eight days for this purpose. Over this period, the organisation seemed oblivious to the fact that the Opposition had no access to the local media as well as to the gamut of dirty tricks played by BN campaigners.

The Commission was also stone-deaf to the numerous claims of irregularities in the electoral rolls, including hundreds of thousands of phantom voters, dead voters and incorrectly registered voters. It is not to be believed that any register that is so painstakingly long in the processing should be in such poor shape. Neither was the Commission interested in claims that postal votes by military personnel were, in the past, arm-twisted to the benefit of BN.

The Commission even appears to have bowed down to Mahathir's flirtation with the occult in the choice of dates for nomination and polling. Mahathir's destiny number being supposed to be 2, nomination was held on November 20 (2+0=2) and polling on November 29 (2+9=11; 1+1=2). There must be some substance to this allegation, for why otherwise hold polling on a Monday instead of on a weekend? For the convenience of voters on so inconvenient a day, a public holiday had to be declared on Nov 29.

Finally, one particular instance of the Election Commission's foul play has perhaps never before been recorded in the history of any democratic country, genuine or otherwise. It is scarcely to be believed, but has been well-testified. Voters in some marginal seats found that their ballot papers had been waxed over in the space where they would have voted for the Opposition, thus making it difficult to make a mark there, especially with the blunt pencils provided. When the ballot paper is folded, the mark disappears because the graphite flakes off, thus registering as a spoilt vote. That so blatant, shameless and crooked a trick can see the light of day must surely underline BN's desperation as well as the Commission's totally supine position with respect to the former.

The Incumbency

While it is accepted in democratic countries that the party in government enjoys certain advantages come election time, in no democratic country is this exploited to so obscene a level as in this one.

In Malaysia where one Coalition has been in power for the entire life of the nation, the line between government and party appears to have all, but disappeared. Hence, public funds are poured into BN's election campaign as though they are party funds, and the government's facilities are used liberally by BN campaigners, including the prime ministerial jet. Huge amounts of development funds are promised in exchange for votes, as though no other party coming to power would have access to these funds. What is worse, funds that had been withheld for a long time are suddenly made available as electoral offerings.

That the incumbency employs its unfair advantages to the absolute maximum is seen in the use of the National Budget as a vote gathering mechanism. The Budget tabled just prior to the dissolution of Parliament will have to be re-tabled after the elections; it contained generous bonuses and pay increases for civil servants, with the implied threat that these could be withdrawn if the election results are not favourable to BN.

Rank political opportunism may also be observed in the manipulation of a state visit by China's Premier, Zhu Rongji during the thick of campaigning, a man who appeared quite happy to play ball with Mahathir by publicly announcing for the latter, a dazzling report card. Under God's Heaven, there can be no sight more nauseating than that of one human rights abuser praising another.

The Judiciary

Malaysia's tainted and discredited judiciary does nothing for the democratic process; rather, it is a backup tool to help entrench BN more securely in power. Corrupt judges, led by an especially repulsive Chief Justice, can be absolutely relied upon to hand down judgements favourable to the ruling Coalition. The pollution of the judiciary extends all the way from the lowest court to the highest in the land. Hence, it would be a waste of time, money and effort to bring to the court's attention, the many irregularities in the election process. One brave attempt involved Professor Jomo who, being one of the disenfranchised 700,000, instituted legal proceedings to halt the elections until such time when the electoral rolls could be completed. Nothing has been heard of the suit since, and nothing is likely to come of it. While the courts theoretically have the power to invalidate an election result or even the entire elections altogether on the basis of proven fraud or unsavoury practices, such as wax-coated ballot papers, the practical reality is that no outcome favourable to BN will ever be overturned. When Mahathir said that anyone with evidence of irregularities in the tenth General Elections could take it to the courts, he was merely being ironic, knowing full well that the courts belonged to him.

Coincidentally, Anwar's sodomy trial was suspended as soon as Parliament was dissolved, obviously to deny the accused a political platform over this period. The judge was awfully sick it seemed, a sickening excuse indeed!

Conclusion

Had the last elections been free and fair, including equal media access for the Opposition, a clean electoral roll, and the efficient processing of 700,000 new voters, it would have been easy to deny BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority, especially as a large number of seats were won by BN on very slender margins.

A party that employs the grubby tactics discussed above could theoretically remain in power forever under the sheepskin guise of democracy. As the momentum for change builds up, the incumbent party is likely to deal with the threat of expulsion by engaging in even more dastardly electoral practices, even to the extent of rigging the results, as was the habit of Suharto for over 30 years and the last resort of Marcos in a presidential contest against Corazan Aquino. Given that BN has already dragged itself through such muck, few can doubt that it would cross the line if need be

Any party that cannot be voted out is by definition a dictatorship. Marcos and Suharto had to be removed by popular revolt. One like-minded person is largely responsible for the shaming of Malaysian democracy, and there can be no hope of a change for the better as long as all the strings of power are gathered in his hands. It is to be hoped that his successor will start by restoring to Malaysians their legitimate democratic rights so that the country can be spared the social upheaval that will inevitably erupt at the end of a long dark road.

Tsu Nam 8/12/1999

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