PAKATAN Harapan is bent on reforming the electoral process although it may not be beneficial to the ruling party, said Ab Rashid Ab Rahman, head of the Electoral Reform Committee.

The former Election Commission chairman has been given a mandate of two years, expiring next August, to come up with suggestions to restore trust and confidence in the electoral process.

Rashid told The Malaysian Insight that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s willingness to reform the system and the electoral laws is a “gift” to Malaysians.

“Which government would do this? That would be a stupid government but this government has started the process to correct the electoral process.

“This is a very good gift from the government,” Rashid said.

The Prime Minister’s Department gave power to the committee to study electoral systems practised in other democratic countries.

It also gave the mandate to the committee to build a “level playing field” for all parties in an election.

“This is a golden opportunity to design a system that is free and fair.”

The 77-year-old served the EC for 27 years and took over as chairman from 2000 to 2008.

Dr Mahathir wants Malaysia’s electoral system and laws to be fair after pressure from several groups, he said.

“He (Dr Mahathir) said we are gentlemen and we fight like one,” said Rashid.

Demands for fair and cleaner electoral processes have been made since 2006 with organisations, such as Bersih 2.0, leading the fight after Dr Mahathir retired in his first stint as prime minister in 2003.

Bersih 2.0 organised five major protests since then, participated by Malaysians around the world.

The last major Bersih 2.0 rally was in 2016, two years before the last elections that changed the government for the first time since Merdeka.

“People know what we have and what we don’t. People can compare.

“We say Malaysia is a democracy and that its elections are fair but they also know what is unfair.” – December 20, 2019.