TASEK PAUH blogspot

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 - The Malaysian election system does not need institutional reform as it has worked well for the country for 50 years.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said that while there was room for improvement, it would be incorrect to say the system was unfair.

He was replying to a question posed by satellite channel Al Jazeera’s anchor Teymoor Nabili of the 101 East Programme where he was one of three panelists invited to discuss last Saturday’s illegal assembly in the city.

The other panellists were Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin and human rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.

The 30-minute programme on Thursday night discussed the issue, including the media’s handling of it.

Mohd Nazri said a similar rally in Terengganu in September had descended into violence.

“So, you cannot blame the police for thinking that this (Saturday’s gathering) was going to end up the same way,” he added.

Nazri said changes made by the Election Commission had shown that the Government listened to issues raised by the people.

However, he said, not every issue or grouse voiced (by the people) was necessarily right.

“We have a system here ... if you have a grouse, channel it to the ballot box. We have an election every five years or less ... at the end of the day, we will decide and you must never underestimate the will of the people,” added Nazri.

Khairy also said the gathering could not be used as a barometer of the general sentiment of the public.

MCA Youth vice-chairman Chew Kok Woh urged Al Jazeera to spend more time talking to Malaysians as it was new to the country.

He said the size of last week’s protest was significantly small compared with the time when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from Umno. – Bernama