By Jerry Ombou
Manila trip... Jerry Ombou (left) and Kanul Gindol (right) after their final preparation meeting for the Manila trip in Kota Kinabalu yesterday. |
KOTA KINABALU : Two Sabahans of the Sabah chapter of Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (MAFREL) will be in Manila for four days starting tomorrow, holding discussions and sharing notes with the world-renown NAMFREL (National Citizen's for Free Election), in relation to the coming Malaysian general election.
Chairman of Gindol Initiative for Civil Society Borneo, Mr Kanul Gindol, and myself, both as MAFREL volunteers, would learn from the Philippines' experience in election observatory works of which NAMFREL is known to have been doing since early 1980's soon after it was incepted in 1983.
This initiative should be empowering the future polls observation works especially in Sabah, particularly during campaigning and polling period where allegedly abuses had been always existent but skipped the eyes of independent observers.Chairman of Gindol Initiative for Civil Society Borneo, Mr Kanul Gindol, and myself, both as MAFREL volunteers, would learn from the Philippines' experience in election observatory works of which NAMFREL is known to have been doing since early 1980's soon after it was incepted in 1983.
Ensuring a fair and free election is the utmost priority of MAFREL too and thus why we came up with this self-funded study trip to our experienced neighbour.
While in Manila, the two of us would also have separate meetings with two other NGOs during which we will learn and share knowledge and experiences on promoting civil society in our respective states.
The NGOs are the Philippine Center for Civic Education and Democracy (PCCED) and the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID).
The PCID has in the past among others held community programmes such as "Empowering the Ulama of the Philippines", "Electoral and Democratic Reforms in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)", and "the South-east Asia Forum on Islam and Democracy".
This study trip would definitely come in handy as we look forward to working closely with the various stakeholders in a democratic Sabah, be they the ruling government, the opposition as well as the Malaysian Election Commission in ensuring a fair and free polls for citizens.
Bagus....looking forward to this.
ReplyDeleteNow Sabah has representatives already.
Deleteyup.its good to know that we have our people in MAFREL.
DeleteSemoga PRU akan datang ini adalah yang terbaik adil dan sebagaiknya.
Deletesetuju dengan Hosie Masie, harap PRU akan datang akan berlangsung dengan lancar dan bersih.
DeleteWe need a free and fair election this time around.
ReplyDeleteFree and fair election should have been ensured since years ago. But its never too late.
DeleteYes I agree with that. I strongly believe that we need fair election to retain our strength.
DeleteBut why with Philippine? actually i did not read the whole article can someone summarized it for me?
DeleteMafrel mengambil contoh daripada National Movement For Free Election (NAMFREL) yang pernah ditubuhkan di Filipina semasa era pemerintahan diktator , Presiden Marcos.
Deletesemua pun, mahukan pilihan raya yang adil dan bersih.
DeleteI hope they learn something really handle so as to have positive effect upon our electoral system in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteThey are the first batch to have such kind of opportunity. Congratulations.
DeleteAre you saying that there will be more like them in the future?
DeleteNot only in Sabah but the whole Malaysia.
Deleteya, semoga mereka belajar sesuatu yang baik dari sana.
DeleteThe knowlegdge shared and gained has to be implemented in Sabah for good.
ReplyDeleteYa setuju. Baru ada makna perjalanan mereka ke Manila.
DeleteMemang betul pernyataan itu. Jangan abaikan masa depan Sabah.
DeleteBut is Philippine good example for us?
DeleteI'm certainly looking forward to what might become of this.
ReplyDeleteHopefully we will have a fair and clean election in this coming election .
ReplyDeleteBagus jugalah sebab semua pun mahukan PRU berjalan secara adil dan bersih.
ReplyDeleteSemoga usaha ini membuahkan hasil yang positif demi kebaikan bersama.
ReplyDeletehasil itu yang kita ingin lihat.
DeleteTak sabar pula menantikan apa hasil usaha mereka ni nanti. All the best.
ReplyDeleteYa harap semua yang mereka usahakan dapat memberi kebaikkan kepada Sabah.
DeleteHarap PRU13 nanti berjalan lancar dan telus bagi memastikan kemenangan yang digapai oleh 'hero' adalah pilihan rakyat :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck to both.
ReplyDeleteWe are waiting for a good news from you guys!
ReplyDeleteAs we already have MAFREL, we no need to get independent observers from outside.
ReplyDeletecuma MAFREL perlu meningkatkan kredibiliti, integriti dan berupaya mengawal gabungan-gabungannya serta memberi komitmen jitu untuk bertindak tidak bercanggah dengan prisip dan etika sesuatu badan pemerhati bebas.
Deleteharap mereka akan memperoleh sesuatu yang positif di Sana.
ReplyDeletesemoga penambahbaikan akan sentiasa dibuat dari masa ke masa.
ReplyDelete