Malaysia needs free and fair elections, says former Umno minister

Malaysia needs free and fair elections, says former Umno minister - A former minister and UMNO lawmakers Najib reminded the administration of its "responsibility" to ensure that free and fair elections be conducted in Malaysia to maintain.

Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, Minister of Tourism during the Mahathir administration had urged the government to engage Bersih with election reform group, and reminded Barisan Nasional (BN) that one of the main reasons why they lost their two-thirds majority in 2008 was its failure to Bersih demands to hear at that time.

Abdul Kadir said that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was able to win 48 percent of the national popular vote with support Bersih.

"A free and fair elections is very basic," he said in a speech at the launch of Amanah Angkatan Merdeka (Amanah) here. "Why can not we engage them (Bersih 2.0)?"

Abdul Kadir is Deputy Chairman of Amanah, the finance minister Tengku Razaleigh led by former Hamzah.

Amanah aims for racial unity to push good governance and respect for the Constitution.

"The government will know whether the elections are clean or not," Abdul Kadir said. "Clean up the election system so that people can choose the government they want."

He suggested that the Election Commission (EC) PR legislators under the Commission's monitoring of the elections are transparent to allow the body.

Abdul Kadir said, "The Year 2011" and that Malaysians were better trained and called for a fair and just government administration.

. 'You have a good and clean government right now money is being spent anywhere, it should be accounted for I can not sleep at night thinking about it?.

"I'm glad the government is against corruption, but you do it right. Jangan cakap tak bikin serupa (do not say what you mean but do not)," he added.

Bersih estimates that 50,000 people showed up on 9 July rally for free and fair elections despite efforts to prevent it from place, while the police have said there are only 6,000.

The protest turned chaotic when police used tear gas and water cannon on thousands of demonstrators in nearly 1,700 arrests, scores injured and the death of former military Baharuddin Ahmad, 59

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has said it will be a public inquiry into police conduct during the rally following reports that they used excessive force in order to keep protesters apart.

Police yesterday cleared of misconduct to provoke after an internal probe into alleged police brutality, and instead placed the blame on Bersih demonstrators the police.

Prime Minister Najib Razak Datuk Seri Bersih group has tried to seize power through mass demonstrations, while the rejection of the election reform group accused of poll fraud allegations.

Source : http://my.news.yahoo.com/malaysia-needs-free-and-fair-elections-says-former-035130018.html