NOV 23 — Ten years ago, on this day, five political parties and 25 NGOs came together to form the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih). A Joint Communique detailing the list of electoral reforms was issued at its launch in the Parliament House. Most of its 24 demands are not met until today.
However, Bersih has changed Malaysian politics and society in more than one way, way beyond what its founding members could imagine in their wildest dreams.
Firstly, Bersih has firmly put the agenda of institutional reforms in Malaysia’s political transformation. The demands expressed in its five rallies have grown from reforms in electoral process (Bersih 1, 2007) to cover integrity of public agencies (Bersih 2, 2011 and Bersih 3, 2012) to clean government, right of dissent and parliamentary democracy (Bersih 4, 2015) and finally to the empowerment of Sabah and Sarawak (Bersih 5, 2016) In a nation where democratic institutions have long been eroded into formality by authoritarianism and patronage, Bersih emerges as a loud and clear cry for multiparty democracy and accountability. Read more