Activists say rigging stopped opposition winning M'sia vote

Activists say rigging stopped opposition winning M'sia vote
Straits Times - 17 March 2008

MALAYSIAN election reform activists on Monday called for an investigation into March 8 polls, saying the opposition would have won outright if voting was clean and fair.

The Barisan Nasional coalition's near-total domination of national and state politics ended in the general elections, with the opposition seizing more than one-third of parliamentary seats and four more states.

The unprecedented gains came despite widespread claims of fraud and vote-rigging, and fury over the cancellation of plans to use indelible ink to prevent multiple balloting.

'We are calling for a royal commission to investigate the electoral process,' said Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) leader Sivarasa Rasiah.

'Just because the opposition won big does not mean the election was free and fair,' he said.

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