Malaysia body to push changes to election policies

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's Election Commission said it hopes to secure voting rights for 1 million Malaysians living overseas and invite international observers for general elections expected this year.

Deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar told the foreign media late Thursday that the commission hopes to table amendments to the law in June's Parliament session to allow voting by citizens living abroad. He said they can then register as voters by post on condition they have been been back to the country at least once in the last five years.

Currently, only government workers, military personnel and full-time students living overseas can cast ballot.

Wan Ahmad said the commission also aims to ensure opposition candidates get fair access to state-controlled media by giving them more airtime and organizing public debates. It will also invite observers for the first time from the Commonwealth, U.S. and other countries, he said.

Some 50,000 Malaysians participated in a street rally last month to demand electoral fairness and transparency.

Police used tear gas and chemical-laced water to break the protest — the second mass rally in 10 months to pressure Prime Minister Najib Razak's government to overhaul what the opposition and civil groups call biased electoral policies before the next election.

Polls are not due till 2013 but speculations have been rife that Najib will call snap polls this year.

"We are committed (to reforms). ... We will do our best. We will talk to the highest level in the government to get the political will" to ensure clean and fair elections, Wan Ahmad said.

The National Front coalition, which has governed Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957, suffered its worst performance in 2008 elections when it lost more than a third of Parliament's seats amid public complaints about corruption and racial discrimination.

After a rally last July by some 20,000 people, Najib instituted a raft of reforms intended to build support such as overhauling decades-old security laws and agreeing to new electoral regulations that include using indelible ink to cast ballot to curb multiple voting.

But activists have said the measures were inadequate, alleging the Election Commission is biased and that voter registration lists are tainted with fraudulent names.