IDEAS: GE13 only partially free

However, IDEAS , which deployed 325 observers to 99 parliamentary constituencies in Peninsular Malaysia and 6 overseas polling centres, said that the 13th general election was only partially free and not fair.

"Complaints have been filed about the possibility of phantom voters and the failure of the indelible ink to work as it should. Both are important issues that must be addressed.

"However, we position these two issues in the context of the wider lack of trust in the integrity of the electoral roll, instead of simply a weakness of the EC. In order to address the root cause of the problem, serious attention must be given to improving the integrity of the electoral roll.

"This involves improving the integrity of the National Registration Department’s database, which may not be within the EC’s purview," said IDEAS chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan in a statement today.

In his statement, he highlighted some issues that need to be addressed moving forward.

"There were doubts about the EC's impartiality and competency despite their many efforts to improve the electoral system. They were seen as being part of an already biased civil service. The fact that EC members repeatedly issued statements that could be construed as partisan did not help. Their defensiveness when criticised further angered the public," said Wan Saiful.

Other issues include: Registrar of Societies did not treat all political parties equally -- delaying registration process of non-BN parties; constituency sizes are unequal -- allowing parties that win many smaller seats to win parliament, despite not commanding popular support; financing of political parties is not transparent -- resulting in a lack of clarity about the financial standing of the competing parties; usage of government and armed forced facilities for campaigning purposes during official campaign period; among others.

"Therefore, although the official campaign period and electoral processes may have proceeded smoothly and with minimal major issues, wider issues that are not within the EC’s purview have built up over the last few years.

These issues conspired against non-BN parties, therefore creating a very uneven field. Due to these reasons, we conclude that GE13 was only partially free and not fair," said Wan Saiful.