KUALA LUMPUR: The Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) has identified 16 components for electoral reform and will present its recommendations to the government next year.
ERC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the 16 components include recommendations for electoral systems, election laws, and constituency delimitation, among others.
“There are 16 components with a few hundred recommendations. We will list all of them down. (The report) will be a thick volume,” he told reporters after a roundtable discussion with the media on electoral reforms at Wisma Bernama.
The ERC, he said, was also looking into strengthening the Election Commission, cleaning up the electoral roll, implementing automatic voter registration and declaration of political funding.
On political funding, Rashid said the ERC was currently reviewing a report prepared during former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low’s tenure.
“All political parties must declare their finances. There will be no more hiding. Everyone, including the government, has to own up.
“It’s alright to receive a lot of money, but we must know the source.”
Rashid also said the committee would continue holding dialogues with political parties, non-governmental organisations and the public to prepare an interim report, which would be ready year-end.
“We are doing (reforms) to strengthen democratic practices in elections, and put our country on par with all developed democracies, as far as electoral management is concerned.
“We want to create a situation where our elections are independent, free and fair, and have a level playing field for all political parties.”
The ERC was set up by the government in August last year. Its 20 members were given two years to conduct studies and present to the cabinet recommendations for electoral reform.