INVITATION TO THE LAUNCH OF BERSIH 2.0

We, the BERSIH 2.0 steering committee, invite your organisation to join and unite with us to advance clean and fair elections in Malaysia. Much still needs to be done and Bersih 2.0 needs your support and help to make the mission come true for a democratic Malaysia.

BERSIH 2.0 believes that it is only when elections are clean and fair, can citizens determine their own destiny and expect holders of public office to act accountably and effectively. The road to electoral reform is part and parcel of the democratic process to put into place the rule of law, human rights protection, good governance and sustainable development in Malaysia. As citizens we can make this our reality.

The key issues of electoral reform include
1. A complete revision of the electoral roll to ensure that the existing irregularities are removed and a roll with full integrity is in place.
2. The use of indelible ink (as is done in Indonesia and India) to prevent multiple voting.
3. The reform of postal voting to abolish the existing separate electoral roll for postal voters and to make it flexible for all voters, at home or abroad, with valid reasons to opt for postal voting.
4. Free and fair media access for all contesting parties, which should include: (a) free access to state-owned media especially television and radio; (b) fair paid access (political advertisement) to private media; and (c) provision of the right of reply for all contesting parties and personalities who are covered negatively in news reports.
5. A meaningful minimum campaign period of 21 days.
6. Fair and professional practices in constituency redelineation exercises to minimise malapportionment, gerrymandering and consequent disproportionality in seats and votes.
7. Automatic registration of all eligible voters.
8. Reduction of the voting eligibility age from 21 to 18 years old.9. Reform in electoral financing to ensure transparency and limit the influence of money politics.
10. Administrative neutrality of all levels of governments before, during and after general and by-elections for the federal and state legislatures.
11. Affirming the right of all students of 18 years and above, to participate in politics inside and outside campus.
Bersih 2.0, whilst acknowledging the importance of the reform agenda of Bersih, is now relaunched as a fully non-partisan coalition of civil society groups. It is a movement of ordinary citizens asserting the right of all, to clean and fair elections as guaranteed by law. We must ensure our votes and voices count.
We, therefore, warmly invite you and your organisations to join us and extend your full support to ensure that the next election and future ones will be clean, fair and democratic.

The details of the launch are as follows:

Date: 10 November 2010 (Wednesday)
Time: 8.30 p.m. – 10.30 p.m.
Venue: PJ Civic Hall, Jalan Yong Shook Lin, Petaling Jaya.

Please bring your members and friends to the launch. You can contact Nurul at 03-77844977 for more information. I

Yours sincerely,
Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan
Chairperson

The Steering Committee of BERSIH 2.0 comprises:

Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan, (Chairperson), Andrew Khoo, Arumugam K., Dr Farouk Musa, Haris Ibrahim, Liau Koh Fah, Maria Chin Abdullah, Richard Y W Yeoh, Dr Toh Kin Woon, Dr Wong Chin Huat, Yeoh Yang Poh and Zaid Kamaruddin.