KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — The two candidates vying to be the chairman of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) both want the group to ultimately be more inclusive to all Malaysians.
How they differ is on the best way to achieve their vision.
Gopalan K Papachan, a former secretary-general of the Malaysian Workers Party before it was rebranded as Parti Amanah Negara, said he plans to increase the diversity of Bersih’s membership to make it mirror the “national colour”.
“One of the first things I would do is to organise a congress of all 61 organisations. Bring them all together. Listen to what they say about the feelings on the ground. What the communities want and what are the challenges.
“I also want to increase the membership of Bersih. The 61 organisations don’t really represent in national movement. We need much better coverage particularly in Borneo. We need a national colour to Bersih,” he said during the candidates’ debate held at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) here tonight.
Gopalan said he also wanted to bring the group back to its roots of being a people-driven movement.
“The work of reform is not done. I want to reignite the journey. The people’s movement needs that capacity. Of course, we need to rebalance it with research and advocacy but the struggle of the people must come through in the work that we do,” he said.
“There’s an institutional reform that needs to be done. The redelineation of constituencies. We should make the Election Commission directly accountable to the Parliament. Increase the number of women’s participation in politics,” he added.
His rival, former Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) president Muhammad Faisal Abdul Aziz, said he would seek to alter Malaysians’ view of Bersih as a movement only catering to urban communities.
“We want Bersih to be inclusive enough. Sadly to say, sometimes people say what we are fighting for is only for the greater good of certain people.
“We have to change this view. What we have to do is we have to enlighten those such as farmers and factory workers. When we talk about elections and justice, it will benefit all of them.
Muhammad Faisal, who was also the current deputy chairman, said he also wanted to bridge the gap between the electoral watchdog and Malaysians.
“We feel hopeless now because we can see the gap. We can fill it in the past but today we can’t. The rakyat is back leaning in political parties as if parties can determine everything. That is one of the reasons the reform agenda can’t be done well.
“We need to be aware and understand that it is different now as compared to Bersih in the past because we failed to fill the gap between the rakyat. We need a strong leadership of NGO that can lead this country forward especially in the reform agenda,” he said.
The election for a new Bersih chairman is being held following the resignation of Thomas Fann on November 19, citing a “vote of no confidence” from a divided steering committee pulling in opposite directions.
The election will be open from 8am until 5pm tomorrow, with the results to be announced the same day.
