Monday, December 20, 2010
Bersih2.0 muddied by People's Parliament playing 'active' politics
| Bersih rallies for free and clean elections |
My "concerned" activist-friend said that with Haris' involvement in MCLM -- touted by many as The Third Force -- he and several Bersih activists are not happy that the "neutrality" of Bersih is being compromised once MCLM started announcing "nominees" comprising so-called "Malaysians of integity" as candidates for GE13.
KUALA LUMPUR - I recently bumped into an non-governmental organisation (NGO) activist who expressed concern about civil rights lawyer-blogger Haris Ibrahim's increasingly "political" role in Malaysian politics. Nothing wrong with any individual playing politics except that Haris is also founder of People's Parliament which has been, and still is, a key component of the coalition named Bersih -- Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0 (BERSIH2.0)-- whose cornerstone role since its formation is fighting for free and fair elections in Malaysia. Just two weekends ago, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) was launched by blogger-in-exile Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) in London with RPK being announced as the Chairman, and Haris as the President.
"Bersih" in Bahasa Malaysia means "Clean" and is the acronym for this coalition of NGOs started before the last general elections in 2008 (GE12) to improve all aspects of what was and still is perceived by the citizenry of a highly "tainted" electoral processes leading to the Malaysian Parliament as well as to the State Assemblies. And with the next general elections (GE13) expected to be around the corner, the weekend saw a briefing by Haris for NGOs on what MCLM is all about, and the previous weekend the launch of MCLM in Lodon.
My "concerned" activist-friend said that with Haris' involvement in MCLM -- touted by many as The Third Force -- he and several Bersih activists are not happy that the "neutrality" of Bersih is being compromised once MCLM started announcing "nominees" comprising so-called "Malaysians of integrity" as candidates for GE13 -- the first being lawyer said to be esteemed by the community, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar. A first public forum scheduled for tomorrow (Dec 21, 2010) in KL will see the second MCLM candidate publicised.
Will Bersih2.0 leaders now make a policy decision with component-members like Haris and RPK who want to actively take part in partisan politics, however "independent" they claim to be? Just for the record, some key Bersih2.0 Steering Committee Members hereby listed:
1. Dato’ Ambiga Sreenavasan Chairperson of BERSIH. Former President of Malaysian Bar Council and a senior practising lawyer.
2. Andrew Khoo Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee, Malaysian Bar Council
3. Arumugam K. President of SUARAM, a well-known human rights organisation
4. Dr Farouk Musa President of the Islamic Rennaisance Front, a think tank promoting civilisational dialogue; a lecturer
5. Maria Chin Abdullah Executive Director of Empower, a women and human rights organisation and working for democratic governance.
6. Haris Ibrahim Founder of Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia, a citizen movement that fights corruption and racism; a human rights lawyer
I am not writing today about the mechanics of MCLM's participation in GE13 like the rote it would finally take -- via other PR component parties like DAP and PKR as hinted by Haris? -- but lesser mortals like me a blogger who also carries a membership card of an Opposition party would ask: Isn't this a political tole for Malaysians who have committed to a REGISTERED political party's membership for some time to offer themselves as "candidates". Never mind the semantics of "quality" and who judges "integrity or character" -- I referred to these judges as demi-gods yes as a non-compliment, I must add! -- of the nominees, but surely a potential candidate must have been himself/herself sufficiently motivated to sign up as a member of the duly registered parties, UMNO,MCA, MIC, do I care? Or PKR, DAP or PAS, yes, I care! Or even KITA if you are desperate enough!
I don't care what motivated RPK and Haris' latest move via MCLM, but I care if it threatens the people/Rakyat's concerted efforts to topple the BN-UMNO government in Putrajaya, which I contend MCLM's progress will despite the founders' and supporters' protestations to the contrary.IF you want to lay an active role as NGO, let it be, just don't start this process of contesting GE13 directly or indirectly. Join former PKR deputy president aspirant Zaid Ibrahim -- Go sign up as a KITA member-lah, for a start -- that's surely a basic desideratum of infant entry into playing politics, is it not?
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