THE CICAK.com

Pro-Aspirasi and pro-Mahasiswa student elections get ugly

Pro-Mahasiswa candidates rallying for support - Photo by Richard Lim

By FAREENA J.

Student elections at various universities across the country ended as expected - with pro-government groups in power - after vicious mudslinging and tactics from all parties. The two major players were pro-Aspirasi (pro-government) and pro-Mahasiswa (pro-opposition) student groups.

Voters at university campuses throughout the country were overwhelmingly in favour of pro-Aspirasi parties, with the exception of Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM). Pro-Aspirasi groups swept all the positions at Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Universiti Darul Iman Malaysia in Terengganu and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Perak.

In Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), pro-Aspirasi candidates took 42 out of 48 seats, in Universiti Malaya (UM) it was 33 out of 41, in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) it was 30 out of 34, and 30 out of 37 in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

Pro-Aspirasi is pro-government, and usually sides with the university’s policies. And pro-Mahasiswa is known to be anti-government or anti-establishment. Some university administrators have no qualms hiding the fact that they do not like pro-Mahasiswa groups.

“There is always a group that distributed slanderous materials and blackmailed others every year,” said Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Deputy Vice-Chancellor Datuk Prof. If. Dr. Alias Mohd Noor. “Usually it is the anti-government group.”

He added that although this year was better than last year, there were still leaflets accusing pro-Aspirasi candidates of allowing Muslims to convert to Christianity and affiliating them with PAS.

Under a ruling by former Education Minister Tan Sri Musa Mohamed, candidates are not suppose to form groups, each are to campaign on his or her own merit. But that’s far from the case at most universities.

The big guns have their eyes on campus elections

Student elections are important to Malaysian political parties because they have a stake in it.

Here is a case in point: On 14 Sept., it was reported that UPM student Yee Yang Yang’s possessions (laptop, handphone, MP4 player and other items worth up to RM6,000) were confiscated by UPM security personnel. Yee claimed that security interrogated and threatened him because of his pro-Mahasiswa activities.

In response to the incident, 49 NGOs and groups including PAS and DAP signed a memorandum demanding the issue resolved and his belongings returned.

In the end, the university admitted that there could have been a breach of protocol when security confiscated his belongings. They were returned two weeks later.

Every year, election results are collected and handed over to the Higher Education Ministry, which keeps a tab on elections.

Campus elections often occur when bigger political struggles are taking place. And so university administrators, often pro-government, work to undermine the opposition’s hold on university students.

Illegal tactics

Some pro-Mahasiswa groups have voiced concern about the election committee’s illegal tactics.

In order to run in university elections, candidates need to be nominated by the university student affairs deputy vice-chancellor and staff, deans or college principals.

Some pro-Mahasiswa candidates didn’t stand a chance to run simply because there weren’t nominated by the committee.

Barisan Mahasiswa Bersatu candidates and members discussing their next course of action upon discovering that some of their candidates were disqualified in Universiti Putra Malaysia - Photo by Fareena J.

In UPM, all those disqualified from being nominated were from the pro-Mahasiswa group Barisan Mahasiswa Bersatu (BMB), according to The Star on 29 Sept. But others shrug this off and say, “Well, if they weren’t losing, they wouldn’t be complaining at all, would they?”

“Is it like this every year?” I asked Loke Chiu Chee, one of the candidates whose application was rejected because she apparently had the “wrong address” (which by the way, is generated by the university’s database). She and her friends nodded. They do not have much hope in the election process, especially with the e-voting system, which they claim can be sabotaged. They made their comeback this year after two years of boycotting the student elections in protest to e-voting.

UPM pro-Mahasiswa groups are not the only ones wary. Over in Universiti Teknologi MARA, opposition groups are starting to give up hope in contending for the student council entirely. “It’s pointless,” said Kelab Rakansiswa Islah Malaysia member Zulhilmi, adding that pro-Mahasiswa groups nominated none of their own to contest this year.

Campaign drama

Both pro-Aspirasi and pro-Mahasiswa groups complained about stolen banners and fliers littered with libel.

“The campaign was fierce, we gave it our all,” said Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia pro-Aspirasi candidate Ng Ze Keng. “Some of our fliers were stolen… I won’t say who did it.”

In Universiti Malaya (UM), pro-Mahasiswa groups staged a protest demanding that 16 pro-Aspirasi candidates be disqualified because they were final year students and wouldn’t be able to serve their full term on the Student Representative Council. They contested anyway.

There were also 15 pro-Mahasiswa candidates who were almost disqualified for using blogs to campaign. (It’s against university rules to do so).

The party did however have one candidate who was not allowed to contest but that was because the student did not meet the CGPA requirement.

On election day itself, pro-Mahasiswa student leader, Syeikh Omar, slapped a girl associated with a pro-Aspirasi group. The incident was reported to the police. According to him, the girl had threatened to spread indecent photos of her pro-Mahasiswa dormitory mates.

Syeikh Omar might be suspended, fined or both, said the UM deputy vice-chancellor (student affairs and alumni) Assoc. Prof. Dr Azarae Idris.

Over at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM), the issue was more than just missing fliers or candidacy.

Pro-Mahasiswa member had allegedly dragged a pro-Aspirasi girl off a motorbike. The incident was reported to the police.

“They accused us of hurting their member, they can’t even prove it,” said Meor Affandi, UIAM student and Gerakan pro-Mahasiswa coordinator. He added that many students received SMSes during the student elections to vote for Aspirasi.

“Where do they get the funds to do this?” Meor said.

Prof. Datuk Syed Arabi Idid said he is in charge of finding out whether the alleged motorbike incident was connected to the elections.

He said, “This election shouldn’t be taken seriously, it’s not like you’re going to change university policy or have curriculum revision.”

It was reported in The Star, that Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin said the majority pro-Aspirasi win meant that undergraduates supported the government’s policies and development plans.

I suppose, as an observer, I can assume the government wants it to stay that way.

–
FAREENA J. is a contributing writer for theCICAK.

Fareena profession gives her a visa to snoop on people. She has written hard news and education for newspapers, websites and magazines, hoping that her writing will make a difference. New and green in the working world, Fareena has yet to find her place and make her mark.