THERE are at least half a dozen issues new Election Commission chairman Azhar Harun would like to tackle and all are equally important.

They are part of his goal to elevate the EC to international standards, the lawyer and vocal commentator on national affairs told The Malaysian Insight in his first interview since his appointment last week.

Cleaning up the electoral roll will be one of his first priorities because of the Sarawak elections due to be held in 2021, he said at his law office in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Automatic voter registration is also on the cards but the biggest challenge would be a second look at the redelineation process under the previous government that was passed prior to the 14^th general election in May.

Malapportionment of votes is a big concern and the way constituencies were redrawn, which can have a serious effect on the way policies are shaped, especially if they are drawn to suit race-based parties, Azhar said.

“Seats are defined by racial profiling of voters. Take the Selayang seat, for instance, where most residents are Chinese. But for certain reasons, the seat was adjusted to include thousands of Malay voters. 

“It affects the psyche of Malaysians to stereotype a seat according to race or religion, i.e. Malay conservative or Malay liberal area.

“The effect is not limited to the voting pattern or results but affects the way we think as a whole,” he said, adding that even government policies could be affected by seat profiling.

Below are excerpts from the interview, in which Azhar also talks about giving the EC more teeth to regulate party funding, election spending and enforcement powers to curb election bribery.

TMI: What are your objectives as EC chairman?

Azhar: My first objective is not to get scolded by (writer) Karim Raslan on national television. And that encapsulates the state of things we are in now.

But seriously, my objective is to elevate EC’s performance to a standard that is universally accepted. It’s not that the EC is not good now.

They have been doing a great job operationally and have been organising and regulating elections many times without any major incident. 

Operationally, EC is strong and the workforce is efficient and committed and I have inherited a good team with a proven track record. 

But at the policy level, there are areas where improvements and reforms are needed. This is something that I am looking forward to addressing. 

TMI: Which areas do you want to improve?

Azhar: The first thing to do is to clean up the electoral roll and I would love to have automatic registration of voters. 

But the biggest challenge would be to look at the redelineation process that was passed by Parliament this year prior to GE14.

TMI: The process or the redelineation itself?

Azhar: Both, as the processes affect the result. The procedures and the basis and premise upon which the redelineation is done, are already set out in the (federal) constitution. But I suppose they (EC) were given different interpretations and I have to find a way to look at it again.

Of concern, is the provision in the constitution that the redelineation can only be revisited once every eight years. So are we going to be stuck with that for the next eight years or can anything be done? That needs an in-depth study and analysis with what’s wrong with that process and what can be done to address it.

I’m also looking for stricter enforcement of the Election Offences Act. Policy-wise, the act has not been enforced at all, resulting in offences, like bribing (during elections) that took place all these years.

As a law practitioner, we have gone to court for election petitions about this issue but the court has imposed a very high burden on the petitioners. They have to prove the offences and how the offences have affected the results. I would like to see what kind of enforcement EC can carry out.

Apart from that, I will also want to look at one of the Election Reform Committee’s suggestions about placing political parties under the EC, instead of the Registrar of Societies. This is done in the United Kingdom. 

If they are under EC, the agency can scrutinise the funds that come into the political parties, making the electoral process more transparent. 

Take the case of a certain party leader where a recent raid found a stash of cash in his home. The party claimed that it belongs to them. If parties come under EC, then the agency can look at it. 

But is EC equipped with the manpower and expertise to play that role yet?

Related to that are the rules on election expenses, which (are) a mockery under the present law, where the parliamentary limit is RM200,000 and state seat is RM100,000, for each candidate.

I have not seen if EC has scrutinised the accounts or the candidate has been called to explain their expenses. It may have happened, but I have not seen it. 

I also have to see the EC’s powers on whether it has the authority to call up the candidates to check on the accounts and if the accounts are not true, what can EC do? 

Because we all know that a parliamentary candidate spends far more than the legal limits. We can see the posters, the blitzkrieg of advertisements on TV and so on. We need to see if the existing limits are realistic now or increase it so that it’s not a mockery. 

There’s no point having a regulation which everyone breaks. If we need to increase, we should increase it to a reasonable level.

At the onset of elections, RTM or TV3 has advertisements for the government and we have to see whether that is campaigning or normal government operations.

There is also an argument that the expenses limit only applies to candidates and not the party. So the party can spend as much as it wants, although, the section (of the law) doesn’t say so. It says that every candidate can only spend through its agent up to the limits. If the party spends for the candidate, then the party is the agent. 

Of more urgency is the slew of election petitions, particularly those that are made against the EC and the returning officers. 

TMI: Any deadline?

Azhar: I can’t set a timeline until I discuss with the stakeholders but top of the list is cleaning up the electoral roll because there are by-elections and the Sarawak state elections are coming up (in 2021), followed by election petitions and expenses accounts of candidates.

I want to put a stop to election offences as they mar the democratic process. The redelineation issue will take a longer time. 

TMI: Why is it important to review the redelineation?

Azhar: Because currently we have malapportionment where certain constituencies have just 25,000 voters, while another (like Tony Pua’s Damansara) has 170,000 voters. 

Worse than that… are the seats defined by racial profiling of voters? Take the Selayang seat, for instance, where most residents are Chinese.

But for certain reasons, the seat was adjusted to include thousands of Malay voters. As such, the Selayang seat was redrawn to facilitate the adjustment. 

There is also religious belief profiling and it does not reflect the true constituency profile. This has a deeper effect on society. After a number of years, it affects the psyche of Malaysians to stereotype a seat according to race or religion, i.e. Malay conservative or Malay liberal area.

The effect is not limited to the voting pattern or results but affects the way we think as a whole.

When a government is elected, it then uses this profiling to construct policies. As such, even policies are affected. It’s not a good thing.

TMI: Bersih 2.0 has called for a royal commission on inquiry into the EC after GE14 and also for the commissioners to resign. Is that necessary?

Azhar: I would like to look at the future although we need to look at the past to learn from it and not repeat the same errors. 

On the RCI, it’s not for me to ask the government to investigate my own agency. That is a decision for the government. If it decides to have one, the EC will give all the cooperation necessary.

On the commissioners’ positions, I would like to meet them first to impress on them about my plans and the need for their support. But if they are not supportive, then we can’t work together. 

And if the government wants to replace them, it’s their prerogative. But I plan to discuss this with the commissioners first before deciding. I have to evaluate their preparedness for this new Malaysia. – September 25, 2018.