POLLS watchdog Bersih 2.0 will give Barisan Nasional candidate Ramli Mohd Noor one week to sign a clean and fair elections pledge, said its steering committee chairman Thomas Fann.

“He did not object to the signing, so we will continue to pursue him and get him to sign and send it over to us and we will let the press know.

“Whether they sign or not, we will let you (the press) know. If he does not sign, then we will say that of all the candidates, BN has chosen not to sign (the pledge).” Thomas said at the signing of the pledges today.

The pledge was signed today by Pakatan Harapan candidate M. Manogaran, and independent candidates Wong Seng Yee and Sallehudin Ab Talib.

This is the second time Bersih has made a pledge for clean and fair elections as a show of commitment by all candidates to conduct the elections cleanly, after the Port Dickson by-election.

“It reflects the desire of the voters and the public that there should be a change in the way elections are conducted.

“We are hoping that we will set a new standard with the Cameron Highland by-election, keeping in mind how the by-election came about, as the seat was vacated because of corruption and bribery – election offences,” Thomas said.

Manogaran questioned the electoral watchdog and the Malaysian Corruption Watch’s (MCW) role after the election court’s decision to annul the GE14 result.

“It was proven beyond reasonable doubt that there were corrupt practices, so the result of the general election was declared void by the court. However, the perpetrators who did wrong are still going around, the menteri besar is still going on, what is being done?” asked the DAP man.

Manogaran said that Bersih and MCW should have travelled into the Orang Asli villages and proactively helped gather evidence of corruption.   

“If it comes to these kinds of things, it has to come from my own pocket, my family’s, the party and its supporters’ pockets. If you have the responsibility to call us to sign such pledges, then you must carry it through to the end,” the PH candidate said.

Thomas responded by reiterating that Bersih was committed to fair and clean elections, but required the help of the public in such cases due to elements of corruption taking place behind closed doors.

He said as a watchdog, its role was more observatory than enforcement, and said that Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail’s role in the corruption case was still under observation and calls for action would ensue, if no action was taken.

“We are not an enforcement agency. We do not have power given to us by the law. Our support comes from the public that agrees with us that this is the right thing to do. We ask everyone of you to play your part.

“We congratulated the election court for its boldness to take this decision and we also call for action against the previous candidate who violated this. We are continuing to watch, including the menteri besar. I do not think anything should be swept under the carpet,” he said.

The Cameron Highlands by-election was called after an election court found in November that BN candidate C. Sivarraajh had participated in vote-buying and corrupt practices by offering money to the Orang Asli to win the seat.

This caused MACC to open investigations into the MIC vice-president’s role in December in relation to the corrupt charges that he was indicted on by the election court.

On December 8, it was also reported that the anti-graft agency recorded the statement of Wan Rosdy over allegations that he paid voters during the run-up to the May 9 elections.

The corrupt acts were said to have taken place during meetings on April 28 and May 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9, as alleged by the petitioner Manogaran. – January 12, 2019.