Global Voices » Tessa Houghton

Allegations of Election Fraud as Malaysia's Ruling Party Wins Again

Tessa Houghton — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:40:53 +0000

Malaysians from all walks of life are currently in a state of outrage following the outcome of the nation's 13th General Election, which has been marred with what appears to be widespread and massive electoral fraud and gerrymandering.

Many social media users are blacking out their Facebook and Twitter avatars and walking silently in malls dressed in black to protest what is being described as the ‘death of democracy’ in Malaysia. Both the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (PR/'The People's Pact'), and Bersih (‘Clean'), the national movement for free and fair elections, are refusing to accept the official result, which has resulted in Barisan Nasional (BN/'The National Front'), the coalition which has governed the country for 56 years, being sworn into power for their 13th term running.

Despite gaining 53.5% of the popular vote in an election which saw over 84% voter turnout (the highest in Malaysia's history), PR only managed to secure 89 of 222 parliamentary seats, with BN taking 133 seats (with only 46.5% of the popular vote) to form the government.

The image below, which is being shared widely on Facebook, highlights the alleged offenses:

An image being shared amongst Malaysian Facebookers outlining the various acts of electoral fraud

Beyond the structural issues above, and other factors such as BN's political-economic control of Malaysia's offline media, the ‘indelible ink’ used to mark voters’ fingers was able to be cleaned off with very little effort, and was applied prior to marking the ballot paper, likely contributing to the huge numbers of ‘spoilt’ or rejected votes.

Malaysian citizens around Kuala Lumpur reported numerous instances of foreigners with suspect ID Kads trying to vote, with some coming back and trying to vote with up to four different ID Kads despite being chased away, with evidence leaked by the Sarawak Report linking the Prime Minister's Office to planeloads of suspect voters flown in to Selangor from East Malaysia.

As votes were being tallied on the evening of the 5th, scuffles ensued in Bangsar, one of the suburbs encompassed by the hotly-contested Lembah Pantai seat, as citizens supporting Calon (candidate) Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of the the much-persecuted opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, fought to prevent vehicles trying to take suspect ballot boxes into the tallying station. They were threatened with tear-gas by the Federal Reserve Unit who were called in to intervene, but were successful in not allowing the ballot boxes, which were marked with another electorate's ID code, into the tallying station.

The following image is one of many circulating on Facebook documenting the incident:

“Ballot boxes marked 120 found in EC car boot trying to enter 121 Lembah Pantai polling station. Blocked by public. Welcome to Malaysia elections.”

From roughly 8.30 p.m. to after midnight, results are alleged to have been held back by recounts demanded by the government following opposition victories in various electorates. This period saw the occurrence of several electricity blackouts around the country, following which, vote recounts revealed that government candidates had in fact won the seats.

It is alleged that extra votes were smuggled in under the cover of the temporary darkness, with the phrase ‘Magic Blackout’ being used by many disbelieving and angry Malaysians. One polling agent recounts the evening here:

Yesterday, by adding up all the ‘scores’ – it seemed like PR has won, and won big.
But no announcements were made. At the EC's main counting centres, recounts were requested on seats that BN lost in (even after all the different saluran had already confirmed the count), blackouts happened, mystery boxes appear – and then suddenly – BN candidates are winning. And then and only then, The EC comes out with official result statements: BN has won this seat, BN has won this other seat. Too dodgy.

PoliTweet, an organisation mapping political social networking activity in Malaysia, logged the surge of tweets/minute containing the word ‘blackout’ during this period:

“Election-related Tweets-per-minute with keyword ‘blackout’ during election night, May 5th 2013.
Highest peak was 210 tweets at 1.01 AM on election night. But mentions of blackouts started as early as 8.48 PM.”

The threshold of 112 seats to form the governments was finally officially announced as having been met by BN at approximately 1.05am 6th May, with Twitter and Facebook exploding as people grappled with the news following the long information blackout. Caretaker/Returned Prime Minister Najib Razak announced his party's success on national television shortly after and stating that the swing towards the opposition was due to a ‘Chinese Tsunami’ – a rising swell of support for the opposition from ethnically Chinese Malaysians, who have been disenfranchised by BN's New Economic Policy, an affirmative action policy instantiated in the 1970s which grants special privileges to ethnic Malays (known as Bumiputras, or ‘princes of the soil'), and its descendent, the National Development Policy.

His statements have been much criticised, with many countering that the ‘tsunami’ is more accurately described as coming from the Malaysian multi-ethnic urban/middle-class, who increasingly reject BN's race-based policies, and who view the party as arrogant and corrupt.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak celebrates after winning the elections. Photo by Hilmi Jaafar, Copyright @Demotix (5/6/2013)

There is widespread uncertainty in Malaysia over what the next few weeks will bring, as there is a period of 21 days in which the results may be contested. Bersih and PR are vowing to continue to demand accountability from BN and the Election Commission, with PR's Anwar Ibrahim calling for Malaysians to “join hands and express our rejection and disgust at the unprecedented electoral frauds committed by Najib and the EC”. He has announced a rally on the evening of May 8th, when he will address Malaysians for the first time since the polls. A Change.org petition calling for international intervention has already garnered 180,000 signatures, and continues to swell.

Many citizens are still in a state of shock, but with a simmering undercurrent of outrage not likely to dissipate any time soon, and with over half the population feeling a clear sense of being cheated of both their democratic rights as citizens and of the government they wanted, Malaysia faces a real crisis of governmental legitimacy.

Malaysia: Blackout Protest Against Internet Censorship Legislation

Tessa Houghton — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:39:43 +0000

This August 14, 2012, Malaysian netizens are blacking out in protest against the second of two recent amendments made to the Malaysian Evidence Act 1950. The amendment made by the Evidence (Amendment) (No2) Act 2012, Section 114A (S114A), deals with allegedly illicit or harmful content on the Internet.

As Malaysia's Centre for Independent Journalism states, “the amendment enables law enforcement officials to swiftly hold someone accountable for publishing seditious, defamatory, or libelous content online.”

S114A, entitled “Presumption of Fact in Publication”, holds (1) those who own, administrate, or edit websites open to public contributors, such as online forums or blogs; (2) those who provide webhosting services or Internet access; and (3) those own the computer or mobile device used to publish content online, accountable for content published through their services, on their sites, or ‘in their name'.

Furthermore, those alleged to have posted the illicit or defamatory content are assumed to be guilty until proven innocent, thus contravening the usual ‘innocent until proven guilty’ logic of judicial process.

The Amendment was tabled by ruling coalition Barisan Nasional‘s Law Minister, Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, in Dewan Rakyat (the Malaysian ‘People's Hall’ or House of Representatives) on 18 April, and was passed after the second and third reading during April's parliamentary meeting which saw a raft of laws passed without debate.

On 9 May, Dewan Negara (the Malaysian ‘National Hall’ or Senate) passed the amendment. The amendment was gazetted on 31 July 2012, meaning that the law is now fully operational.

One of the #stop114a blackout banners in Bahasa Melayu

S114A has been received with widespread criticism, but opposition had remained fractured until recently, with Malaysia's Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) coordinating and distributing an online petition asking for the Amendment to be repealed, signed by more than 3300 people, before being delivered to deputy law minister Datuk VK Liew in parliament on June 26.

As CIJ Director Jac Sm Kee commented at the time, the Amendment is likely to have a severe chilling effect upon Malaysian civil society:

What can an ordinary internet user do to prove it wasn’t them who published something online when the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) itself sometimes says it doesn’t have the technical resources to find the real culprits? … If a kopitiam [coffee shop] owner is liable for all the traffic that goes through its wi-fi, it places a lot of burden on them, in terms of monetary and human resources, to either conduct surveillance or stop providing wi-fi altogether.

When the petition was ignored and the law made operational on July 31, the CIJ began coordinating the current internet blackout campaign, using existing links with Malaysian opinion leaders and reaching out through social media platforms to publicise and gain pain participation in the blackout. The Internet blackout follows similar protests in New Zealand and France (2009), Russia and Myanmar (2012), and the global anti-SOPA/PIPA Internet blackout which occurred earlier this year, with the blackout tactic appearing to spread globally amongst digital rights supporters.

A host of news and commercial sites (including influential Malaysian independent news site Malaysiakini), bloggers, public figures, community forums and civil society organizations are participating in the Malaysian blackout, but Malaysia's social media sphere is also notably dark, with large numbers of Facebook and Twitter users ‘getting involved’ and blacking out their avatars, posting status updates criticizing the amendment, and contributing to the Twitter hashtag #stop114a.

A selection of comments from the hashtag illustrates the overwhelmingly negative response to the legislation:

@wikileaks: Tomorrow is Malaysia's ‘Internet Blackout Day’ – A campaign for internet freedom. #Stop114A https://wlfriends.org/

@DSamyVellu: Imagine a world with true Internet freedom. But freedom is not free. We must fight for our freedom. Happy #Stop114A Day. See you Wednesday.

@Mayazhrdn: #Stop114A isn't bcs of ppl being scared of being held guilty against what they say, but bcs EVEN IF you get hacked, you're guilty.

@salhasyafiqah: Evidence (Amendment) (No2) Act 2012, Section 114A –> This is crap and nonsense. #Stop114A

@Ahriman92: No #freedomofspeech equals muted injustice just like what the government wants. Oppression in broad daylight. #stop114A

One of the #stop114a tweets perhaps sums the blackout up best:

@nikicheong: #Stop114A could be Malaysia's most successful digital civil movement. Hacktivism at its best. Let's make it happen people.

Malaysia: ‘National Harmony Act’ Greeted with Cynicism

Tessa Houghton — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 00:31:27 +0000

The Malaysian social and alternative media sphere is describing an impending ‘National Harmony Act,’ as “Orwellian” and “draconian.”

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that Malaysia's Sedition Act of 1948 is to be repealed, and replaced with the National Harmony Act (NHA.)

The Sedition Act, a hangover from Malaysia's era of colonial rule, was originally introduced to quell opposition against the British, but is infamous for its vague definitions and use by the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition to silence political opposition.

Rather than celebration, there is widespread concern that the new National Harmony Act will not prove any better than its predecessor. Barisan Nasional has dismantled several existing laws only to replace them with barely improved or even worse versions. For example the Internal Security Act, the Peaceful Assembly Act and the Evidence Act amendments.

Many Malaysian netizens are concerned that the NHA is yet another example of double-talk.

Mustafa K. Anuar, writing for Aliran describes it as a ‘Seduction Act in the offing', identifying the widespread cynicism towards the new Act as predictable:

In the recent past, the promise of a repeal of certain undemocratic laws such as the equally draconian Internal Security Act turned out to be a nightmare for Malaysians, especially human rights activists, as the replacements are either the same or even worse than the laws they replaced.

A political cartoon by well-known Malaysian cartoonist Zunar, depicting what many Malaysians fear from the planned National Harmony Act. (Image from ‘Zunar Kartunis Fan Club’ Facebook page owned by Zunar – click image to be taken to the page)

Phil Robertson, the deputy director Human Rights Watch's Asia division, also summed up this worrying legislative trend in the alternative media website The Malaysian Insider:

He said “the government should realise that change for change’s sake is not enough”, adding that the drafting of replacement laws “has gone on behind closed doors with little input from civil society.”

As reported by Malaysiakini (paywall-protected site), Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing (as well as Lim Chee Wee, head of the Malaysian Bar Council) has suggested that the government should just repeal the Sedition Act, rather than replace it with more legislation prone to selective enforcement:

“We have seen a politician or two and some religious leaders raise the bogey of Christian proselytisation of Muslims and proffer no substantive proof in support and yet they have not been hauled up for seditious speech.

“Don't replace obsolete laws with newfangled ones, especially if you cannot be counted on to enforce them with equity,” he contended.

Commenters on the Malaysiakini article seem to agree:

Hang Babeuf: Of course, the National Harmony Act provokes scepticism. Just look at the name.

Absalom: If you want national harmony, you don't need an Act, for that's all it is, an act.

Ez24get: National Harmony Act – harmony for whom? Harmony for the corrupt BN as nobody could question or take away their gravy train?

Similar sentiments are expressed in yet another Malaysiakini commenter round-up:

Kee Thuan Chye: The Sedition Act should be repealed, not put into a new wine bottle with a nicer-sounding name. A repressive law by any other name still stinks just as bad.

Abasir: Deja vu! We've been here before. Remember how he introduced the so-called Peaceful Assembly Act following which a well-publicised peaceful assembly of citizens was deliberately trapped, gassed, beaten by gangs of unnamed men in uniform and thugs in mufti?

Kgen: Knowing Najib, the false democrat, the new Act will be even worse than the old Act. Just like the Peaceful Assembly Act, which is even harsher than the existing Police Act.

However, PM Najib Razak claims that the Act will “ensure the best balance between the need to guarantee the freedom of speech for every citizen and the need to handle the complexity of plurality existing in the country”, as reported by the state news agency Bernama:

”With this new act we would be better equipped to manage our national fault lines. It will also help to strengthen national cohesion by protecting national unity and nurturing religious harmony… and mutual respect in the Malaysian society made up of various races and religions.”

Najib also stated that the government wants to invite views and opinions from Malaysian individuals and organisations on the legislation, naming the Attorney-General's Chambers as the agency responsible for consulting with such stakeholders.

Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, a minister in the Prime Minister's department, stated that unlike the to-be-repealed Sedition Act, the NHA will allow for criticism of the Malaysian government:

There should be no absolute freedom to the extent we can call people pariah, pimps and so on.It is [obvious] we want to protect the Institution of the Malay Rulers. They are above politics and this country practises Constitutional Monarchy

According to Mohamed Nazri, the new Act is not expected to be tabled until next year. It is therefore likely that the Sedition Act will remain in place until after the 13th Malaysian General Election, which must be held before March 2013.