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Electoral process in Malaysia

An important barometer of a parliamentary democracy is free and fair elections. Explain the electoral process in Malaysia. There are generally two types of government autocracy and democracy. These two systems are very different in term of their political practice. In the autocratic system of government, power is concentrated in a single person, who is often pictured as a ruler who is wicked, who ignores the voice of the people and completely denies them of their power. These rulers are often nicknamed as dictator. Democracy on the other hand, is a form of government in which the policy is usually decided by the preference of the majority in a decision-making process, which is name as elections. Malaysia, a democratic country had also practice election even before its independence day. But, how is the electoral process being held in Malaysia? An important body concerning the electoral process is the Election Commission, which must be administered with transparency to uphold its responsibility of protecting the mechanism of election and sustaining democracy. Article 113 of the Federal constitution provides that the Election Commission is responsible for both managing and administering the elections. The three main areas of responsibilities held by the Commission: draw up the borders of the electoral constituencies, prepare and check the voters lists for the election, and manage the election process for the Parliamentary and State Legislative Assembly constituencies. The first responsibility is crucial because of its relation to the increase in population and the development of settlements or the growth of small towns in constituency. The second responsibility is carried out from occasionally to update the register. The Election Constitution is mandated under Article 114 of the Federal Constitution; members are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after consultation with the Council of Rulers. Members of the commission consists of a chair person, a deputy and three other members, all of whom receive an allowance according to the laws approved in Parliament through the establishment of a special fund. Members of the Commission shall hold office until they reach the age of 65 but they may resign any time by writing to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, in turn, is empowered to remove any member who is: bankrupt, holding a salaried post, a member of Parliament or a member of State Legislative Assembly. Malaysias general election is called every five years and the date of election is chosen by the Election Comission. However, a general election can also be held before the term is up. Before Yang diPertuan Agong dissolve the Parliament, he must seek the advice or at the request of the Prime Minister. As soon as Parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days in Peninsular Malaysia and within 90 days in Sabah and Sarawak .Malaysias election has existed at two levels: national level and state level. National level elections are those for membership in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, while state level elections are for membership in the various State Legislative Assemblies.

Nomination centers are set up in various locations by the Election Commission to allow candidates to register themselves. Typically any Malaysian citizen of 21 years old (and a resident of the state, if he is representing his state) may register as a candidate as long as he is not disqualified from doing so. He or she does so by filing the appropriate forms and placing a monetary deposit (RM 10000 for a parliamentary seat and RM 5000 for a state seat). After the politicians have nominated themselves, a manifesto will be prepared by them in tandem to the campaigning process, which runs from the nomination date to the polling date. Before the balloting day arrives, contesting party will carry out political talks in order to gain people support. The freedom of speech and assembly which are being embodied in Article 10 of the Constitution are being practice during an election campaign. Each party can have the opportunity to influence the voters in an electoral constituency. In a general election, every voter is given two sheets of ballot papers of different colours; one for the State Legislature Assembly constituency and the other for the Parliamentary constituency. On each ballot paper are symbols representing the contesting candidates and the space for the voters to make his choice. The responsibility of voting is completed with voter making X in the space provided representing the candidate of the voters choice. The ballot papers are then put into separate ballot boxes for the Parliamentary constituency and the State Legislative Constituency. Each voter can only vote one candidate to present him in the House of representative and also vote only one candidate to represent him in the State Legislature Assembly. The name of voters cant be more than one voter register, if it does occur, the vote will not be counted and will be categorized as undi rosak. An election is definitely one way of assuring democracy. But is all the election in this world fair and transparent enough? If its all fair, Aung San Suu Kyi could now have been Myanmars Prime Minister for years. And if its all transparent, Bersih rally would not have occurred.

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