DESPITE not guiding street protests for years since 2016, Bersih has kept itself busy by engaging with the government in its effort to push for electoral reform.

Its chairman, Thomas Fann, said the electoral watchdog has constantly produced reports and recommendations for relevant stakeholders to pursue. 
 
“It does not mean that if we do not hold a protest, we are doing nothing. In fact,  we have been doing a lot in the past few years.

“We have been engaging with the government as well as the opposition on various issues. We have produced 18 reports and have put forward many recommendations,” Fann told The Malaysian Insight following the launch of a video documentary and a publication to mark the electoral reform group’s journey in the past 15 years.
 
Fann said the anti-party hopping law as well as the constituency development fund (CDF) were among Bersih’s ideas, which are now being pursued actively by Putrajaya.
 
“Where do you think the ideas come from? We have been pushing for that kind of reform for quite some time and we will continue to demand for Malaysia,” he said.
 
Fifteen years ago on this date, the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) was established with the objective of ensuring that elections are conducted in a clean and fair manner. 
 
The coalition was formed with the support of civil society organisations, political parties and individuals who aspire to see a bright future for our country’s democracy.
 
The electoral oversight body has organised at least five street protests with the first one held back in 2007 when it was still a loose coalition without a power structure.
 
At its 15th-year anniversary today, the electoral body decided to drop the 2.0 and just identify itself as Bersih. 
 
Bersih also upgraded its logo to a more modern design but retained the original yellow and red tick.

 
Fann said that through a series of rallies, Malaysians have exposed the loopholes and weaknesses of the electoral system and demanded reform to Malaysia’s electoral system.
 
“Against all odds, the people managed to change the government in May 2018 with Pakatan Harapan at the helm.
 
“Pakatan was elected to bring about the reforms but the process was too slow and it was overthrown after 22 months in power through a political coup.
 
“Our work is far from over. Together, we have come a long way but there are still many challenges ahead. We will continue to play a pivotal role in pushing for reforms,” he said.
 
In the early days, Bersih was only focussed on the issues surrounding elections and voting, which many considered boring.
 
After five protests, however, each of them drawing tens of thousands of people, Bersih has become a movement that also highlights government heavy-handedness, in particular with regards to the freedom of speech and assembly.
 
To protect its credibility and be non-partisan, Bersih eventually morphed into a civil society group and renamed itself Bersih 2.0 in 2010 under the leadership of Maria Chin Abdullah and her co-chairman, lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan. – November 23, 2021.