 Anwar supports boycott |
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PAS and KeADILan decided to boycott Batu Talam By-election. The announcement on 10 January surprised many people.
I must admit not all our supporters agree with the leadership decision. Even comrades from other friendly organizations and fellow opposition party were concerned with such strategy.
The decision was not made in haste. It was reached after a long and serious discussion. In fact it was first debated within the leadership of PAS. The Youth Wing of KeADILan passed a resolution in the last congress in September 2006. However KeADILan did not contemplate the option of boycott since the seat was contested by PAS in 2004 general election. We also launched a booklet “Sham Democracy: A Report on Malaysian Elections” which documented various election frauds in the congress.
I am aware that it was not an easy choice. Opposition in Malaysia has always fought an uphill battle—actually more than impossible—against Umno-BN hegemony. Without a free and fair election, democracy is meaningless.
The statement by the Chairperson of Election Commission Tan Sri Rashid on 8 January confirmed all the opposition allegations. He admitted that the EC has not been independent and many weaknesses exist due to our outdated election laws. Tan Sri Rashid also characterized our election system as “more backward than Aceh”.
Well the chairperson of EC said it all. All of us in the opposition and NGOs welcome his statement calling for a genuinely independent EC. Yet the next day, the Minister of PM Department Nazri Abdul Aziz dismissed the need for reform. PM Abdullah Badawi, as usual, did not know what was going on gave a non-committal reply— “Let him tell me what he wants”. Hey, Mr PM, your loyal servant Rashid had issued an open statement in the press, haven’t you read?
We have enough of the nonsense. The opposition parties are now taking a united stand. We shall not participate in the fraudulent election game to legitimize the unfair system. It is crystal clear that the EC is powerless and helpless in ensuring a clean and fair election. Thus Barisan Alternatif refuses to be part of the rot.