For most people discussion about GE13 leads only to one important but obvious question: Who is going to win? But regardless of the outcome this nation, the Election Commission, the Parliamentary Select Committee and the Federal Government all deserve to take a bow because the “mother of all elections” is set to be a milestone in the long process of political reform.
That term was coined by Election Commission Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof who has Friday taken time to remind voters of how far we have come. Indelible ink was confirmed in 2011. Just this last week it has been ruled that pens, not pencils will be used to mark ballot papers. In between there have been 32 recommendations by the PSC, 18 of which are now in place.
This election will be closely watched by our neighbours and the rest of the world. It is a chance for them to see political reform in action and in some cases, mend their view of Malaysia. For too long they have seen Bersih’s riots on television, heard stories of “oppressive” Malaysia (from Anwar Ibrahim) and even that his fabled “Malaysia Spring” is coming to save us from tyranny. This country deserves to be portrayed in better terms than that. So how satisfying will it be to sweep away such negativity with an election that is lauded by the rest of the world?
The election observers from ASEAN nations that have been invited will have unfettered access to the vote and the counting procedures as will the observers from 16 Malaysian NGOs. It shows that as well as being sincere about reform. The Government is ready to be observed and judged which is hardly the hallmark of the “regime” described by the likes of Anwar and Bersih co-founder Ambiga Sreeenevasan.
In fact, on the eve of GE13 Ambiga remains unrelenting in her bid to tarnish the election as best she can before it even takes place. As recently as last December she was telling CNN about the impending “dirtiest election ever”, and her “torment” as a tireless campaigner for freedom. Just last week she was railing about overseas voting safeguards designed to prevent people with Malaysian passports that have never been here from having a say in our affairs.
Ambiga’s rival plan to the invited observer mission is to swamp polling centres with 10,000 volunteers (who might also happen to be Pakatan Rakyat supporters). They will be untrained (unlike the ASEAN teams) and unaccredited meaning they won’t have access to poll or the count but will nonetheless relay their impressions back to their yellow t-shirt wearing masters. It has biased written all over it.
It’s one thing having the EC talk about the “mother of all elections” but now even senior Pakatan figures can no longer deny the success of our electoral reform process. DAP Chairman Karpal Singh last week said what the EC has achieved “looks alright”. Coming from nay-saying Pakatan Rakyat, that is high praise indeed.
The fact that we are on the cusp of such a free and fair GE13 is due to one man. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak brought to Seri Perdana a firm belief that in order to be one of the world’s leading nations, Malaysia needs to embrace proper, root and branch reform in all areas. This means totally transforming our economy so that money flows into our stock exchange and businesses help build our technology base. It means transforming a party that has been in power for more than half a century by bringing in fresh faces and new ideas. And it means overhauling the way we choose the Government to such an extent that we are happy to be judged by the rest of the world, not fearful of its verdict.
He has also made it clear that GE13 isn’t the end of this process, just an important milestone. Should Najib’s reformist Government be re-elected it will continue its reform agenda that extends way beyond the next term. Education alone is a reform commitment that goes until 2022. High income developed nation status is a milestone in the year 2020.
But that doesn’t mean we should take time to reflect on what we have achieved when we go to vote at GE13. It is an election that tells us we have come a long way as a nation.