SIX former Election Commission members would have faced 13 charges of misconduct if a tribunal against them had proceeded, according to the prosecutor’s charge sheet sighted by The Malaysian Insight.

The charges were not read out at the tribunal today, as the panel has reserved its decision on whether to proceed after hearing arguments that the matter was now academic following the commissioners’ resignations.

The first two charges are for condoning malapportionment and gerrymandering when proposing recommendations for the sixth delimitation of electoral boundaries in peninsular Malaysia. 

The other charges are for:

• demarcating electoral boundaries along racial lines, which had “eroded the multiracial and multicultural essence of the Selangor electorate” and eroded public confidence towards the EC
• misleading the public, in particular Selangor votes, by pushing the first and second proposed recommendations for the demarcation of the state’s electoral boundaries along racial lines, and later misleading the public by dropping the second proposed recommendations last year
• directing, approving or condoning the destruction of voters’ addresses in the EC’s records, including addresses of 136,272 voters in Selangor
• implementing a flawed overseas postal voting system for the 14th general election, which did not provide adequate time for voters to participate 
• fixing the 14th general election on a weekday, or a Wednesday, on May 9, 2018, without any basis or explanation, causing a massive inconvenience to voters working outstation or overseas
• setting the campaign period for the minimum 11 days without any basis or explanation and therefore suppressing voter outreach by political parties, particularly those who did not have access to the mainstream media and government machinery 
• disallowing accredited observation and oversight of the polls by independent electoral observers, including statutory bodies such as the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), and, therefore, prevent meaningful accountability and transparency 
• closing polling stations at 5pm and disallowing voters from voting after that period despite complaints of long queues 
• directing, approving or condoning the failure or unreasonable delay of numerous presiding officers to sign the requisite Form 14, even after the completion of vote-counting, thereby delaying the official announcement of the results in several constituencies
• shifting voters into constituencies which they are not residents of, disregarding Article 119 of the Federal Constitution.
• changing the boundaries in an exercise between December 2015 and April, 2016, before the initiation of the delimitation process, therefore, circumventing the 13th schedule of the federation constitution.

The six former EC members – Othman Mahmood, Md Yusop Mansor, Abdul Aziz Khalidin, Sulaiman Narawi, Bala Singam Karupiah and Leo Chong Cheong – were present at the Klang court complex today and did not speak to the media.

The tribunal is tasked with investigating allegations of misconduct and, if proven, to remove the men from office. 

The six-member tribunal also is led by retired Federal Court judge Steve Shim, and comprises Zaleha Zahari, Suriyadi Halim Omar, Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha and Prasad Sandosham Abraham.

Despite protests, the redrawn boundaries were passed in the Dewan Rakyat in late March last year, a little over a month before GE14 on May 9.

It had gone through the requisite period of public objections but elections reform activists and leaders of Pakatan Harapan, which was then the opposition, accused the EC of bulldozing the hearings through and for failing to attend to all objections thoroughly.

Bersih 2.0 chairman Thomas Fann today told reporters outside the court that tribunal was initiated based on a memorandum the polls watchdog sent to the prime minister on August 14. 

“These are 13 charges that prove misconduct… It’s not over yet. They have heard the submissions from both counsels and they will make a decision whether to go ahead. 

“We are here to day to say that this is a historic moment that such a tribunal was formed to look into allegation of misconduct by the Election Commission. I believe this has never been done for an Election Commission.

“This is a clear message that we want to send out to all people who are appointed to high office that when they are appointed, they are to command public confidence in carrying out what they are entrusted to do according to the constitution. – January 28, 2019.