Bersih should help PKR on cleaning its election first

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) man N.Gobalakrishnan found it ironic for the opposition especially PKR to criticise the Election Commission and the electoral process when the party’s 2010 election was fraught with cheating and fraudulent practices.

Gobalakrishnan who is now an Independent MP for Padang Serai told The Mole: “If Bersih really cares about electoral reforms, I dare them to expose the election fraud practised by PKR leaders in their last party election,” he said.

“In fact, (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali were not spared from allegations such as masterminding the election result and cheating at that time,” he said.

Gobalakrishnan added: “There were 160 complaints on the PKR election process then. There were complaints of cheating against some leaders but nothing was done about it.”

A news report stated there was a host of controversies surrounding the PKR election in 2010 including money politics leading to the resignations of party members unhappy with the flawed election process.

“I dare (Bersih co-chairman) Ambiga (Sreevanasan) and her Bersih movement to check and clean up PKR’s electoral process before they start bashing the commission and our election system,” Gobalakrishnan said, adding that it was ridiculous to rely on opposition leader Anwar and his partners to bring about electoral reforms in Malaysia.

Gobalakrishnan believes the Bersih movement was a big sham embarked upon to attract the attention of foreigners and portay to them Malaysia's “flawed” electoral system.

Apart from that, he said Bersih's aim is to also incite hatred among the people to topple the Barisan Nasional-led government through demonstration and street protests.

“Bersih does not really care about  electoral reforms. It is more about getting people riled up and disrupt our peace until they get the government of their choice,” he said.

Previously independent MP Wee Choo Keong had said the opposition's current endless blame on the EC and electoral process is puzzling as they had no problem contesting under the very same system in the 12th General Election in 2008.

To this Gobalakrishnan said: “That is why I found it funny how they (opposition leaders) complain about it now."

Another former PKR leader Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohammed Hashim also said Bersih only wants to mislead the people and the West by portrayng how undemocratic the government is and that it violates human rights by having a rigged election.

“Using tainted electoral process as its agenda, Bersih provides a platform for opposition leaders to promote their political and social ideologies, incite doubt and hatred towards government and authorities.”

“By belittling the EC, foreigners can cast doubt and try to interfere with our nation’s system and gradually influence our way of administrating our country,” Zahrain who is now an Independent MP for Bayan Baru added.

 Bersih 3.0 is scheduled to take place at Dataran Merdeka on April 28th.

Source: MOLE