Place election reform committee under Parliament, say 6 MPs

KUALA LUMPUR: Several members of parliament have issued a statement urging the government to place the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) under the purview of Dewan Rakyat.

The statement, signed by six lawmakers, including Petaling Jaya MP and former chair of election

watchdog Bersih Maria Chin Abdullah, said this was consistent with Promise 16 of the Pakatan Harapan 14th General Election (GE14) manifesto, which was to restore the dignity of Parliament.

“The Election Commission should also report to this parliamentary

select committee on electoral reform since the EC is one of the nine agencies which will begin to report directly to Parliament soon,” the MPs said.

They said there was an urgent need to reform the electoral system and that many reforms had

been proposed in the 2012 Parliamentary Report of the Special Select Committee on Electoral Reforms.

“These are the urgent and timely issues which a parliamentary select committee on electoral reform can get to work on immediately, rather than having

to wait for two years,”

The other co-signatories to the statement are Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Sibu MP Oscar Ling Chai Yew, Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto and Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong.