Keep polls clean, Bar Council told

PETALING JAYA: Concerned lawyers are calling for a clean and transparent Bar Council election as the deadline to submit ballot papers draws to a close today.

They said the Bar Council should take heed of its own advice to the Election Commission to reform the electoral process.

The lawyers said it was a shame that the Bar Council had yet to reform its electoral process, but had been actively supporting Bersih’s demand for free and fair elections.

Lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon called for greater transparency and a more effective voting system.

“The present system is haphazard and open to question, as no mechanism is in place for the voters to directly place ballot papers into sealed containers.

“There was an occasion several years ago when council members collected the ballot papers from lawyers and took them back to Kuala Lumpur. That is totally wrong,” said Manjeet, adding that he had challenged the process in court before.

“As the law profession involves speaking up and defending the right of others, the Bar Council should put in place a voting system beyond question,” said Manjeet.

“We see the same few senior lawyers involved in the counting process. This is an issue,” he added.

Lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz said the Bar Council and Bersih had condemned the EC for not abolishing postal balloting, claiming that it was open to abuse.

“But the Bar Council is still using the postal balloting process, and I believe it does not clean up the electoral roll regularly.

“As a result, many may not have received their ballot papers. Perhaps many are not bothered to file complaints, as past statistics show that the majority of the members do not return the ballot papers,” he said.

Lawyer Datuk Abu Bakar As-Sidek Mohd Sidek said the Bar Council was quick to parrot Bersih’s call.

“But for Bar Council elections, no one has any idea how they are being conducted,” he said.

Lawyer Tan Keng Liang said a reputable auditor should be engaged to conduct the election, and observers should be allowed to monitor the counting process.

Lawyer Faidhur Rahman Abdul Hadi claimed that the Bar Council election was not transparent enough.

“The EC allows observers at vote-tallying centres, so why can’t the Bar Council do the same?” he said.

Malaysian Bar deputy chief executive officer Chin Oy Sim denied that there was a lack of transparency in the electoral process.

“It is transparent,” she said, adding that so far none of the 23 candidates vying for 12 seats had pulled out of the race.

She said postal ballots must be returned to the Bar Council Secretariat not later than 5.30pm today.

The ballot papers would be delivered to the election scrutineers the following day, and the results would most likely be known on the same day, she said, adding that almost 16,000 members were eligible to vote.