CIVIL society must remain bipartisan if it is to effectively carry out its work, said Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) today.

C4 executive director Cynthia Gabriel said civil society had to work with politicians on both sides of the divide.

“Civil society will always remain non-partisan,” she said when asked for a response to former think-tank analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan’s call to civil society to endorse political parties in the general elections

“We influence policy and we talk to politicians from both sides,” she said. 

“Civil society is by nature bipartisan, but it does a lot of work that is political.

“We work very hard to influence policymakers in various issues, especially on governance and human rights. 

“In order to do that kind of advocacy work, it can get very political. We do engage politicians to influence policies or manifestos and we approach each relationship based on the agenda. 

At a press conference on Monday, Wan Saiful said he could no longer remain in an NGO or in civil society as he felt that would mean he was endorsing the current political situation 

Wan Saiful was speaking about his decision to join Bersatu after quitting as chief executive officer of Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs which he founded. 

“I think there will come a time to declare who is the nearest to the demands and requests you are making,” he had said.

“Being non-partisan is a very important part of being in the civil society movement but at the same time, being non-partisan does not mean you don’t endorse anyone.

“When that time comes, I hope you will give your endorsement to the party that comes closest to the vision of Malaysia you have. Otherwise, what will happen is, you are implicitly endorsing (what is happening now).”

Wan Saiful is expected to contest a parliamentary seat as a Bersatu candidate.

Maria Chin Abdullah is another civil society figure to have joined the political fray. She has resigned the Bersih 2.0 chair to contest a parliamentary seat as an independent under the Pakatan Harapan banner. 

“We do hope that Wan Saiful and Maria can keep the torch of reform alive and well within the respective parties, without being tarred,” Cynthia said. 

Umno and Gerakan leaders have said that Maria’s decision proves Bersih 2.0 was never bipartisan to begin with and had been a “kuda tunggangan” or operative, of Pakatan Harapan. – March 7, 2018.