Malaysian netizens cry fraud

The Jakarta Post
The Jakarta Post

Jakarta | Tue, May 7, 2013 | 11:30 am

Malaysia citizens virtually voiced their concerns of widespread fraud in the country's election via a petition at Change.org, urging the United Nations (UN) to intervene and investigate the irregularities.

In less than 24 hours, more than 140,000 people have signed a petition at www.change.org/GE13 which was started only hours after Malaysia's ruling National Front coalition was declared the winner.

Change director for Asia Pacific, Nick Allardice, said that the figure was increasing so rapidly it might be Change's fastest-growing petition ever.

'Growth has reached 1,300 signatures per minute and it [the petition] is being spread to 1,100 petitioners per minute,' Allardice told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Usman Hamid, the Change Indonesia's co-founder, said 'This could be the first ripples of a huge transformational wave, as happened in the Arab Spring. Even in the most restrictive conditions in Malaysia, people empowerment is possible through digital media,' he went on.

In his petition, Terry Kok, Kuala Lumpur resident, said 'The cyber media is the only place left in which the Malaysian people can demand a fair election result. What we want is only that we be heard'.

Kok said that if the UN could conduct an investigation into the fraud, then more people would know what had happened in the country. When the international awareness started to grow, transparency would follow and the truth would be revealed.

'Our voices have been robbed in our own country,' said Kok. (ebf)