Dear friends,
I want to first thank you for giving your support at all our BERSIH rallies and especially during BERSIH 5.  You not only turned up at the rally on 19 November 2016 but also gave my family and I moral support when I was put away in solitary confinement under SOSMA for 11 days. I am truly touched by your support.
Our solid work to reform the electoral system continues despite the odds. Even as we face numerous challenges and frustration, now is the time NOT to give up. BERSIH 2.0 will persist and resist all attempts to cheat the voters and rig the electoral system. BERSIH 2.0’s position has been very clear; we want to establish a fair playing ground so that all candidates have an equal chance in general elections.
1. BERSIH 2.0 in COURT
For the first time in our history, we are taking the Election Commission (EC) to court to stop electoral manipulation through redelineation. If left unopposed, the new electoral boundaries would unfairly swing numerous seats in favour of certain parties even before the election begins.
Thus far, BERSIH 2.0 has been successful in our court challenge on unfair redelineation in Melaka. The High Court has ordered the EC to stop this redelineation process until the case is decided. We are pursuing several unfair redelineation challenges in Perak, Johor, and Kuala Lumpur.
We have also discovered attempts to cheat through the “transfers” of voters. These are happening nationwide and are targeted at marginal seats in order to gain unfair political advantage. BERSIH2.0 is working with several lawyers to file a court challenge on this.
In total, BERSIH2.0 has been supporting nine election related court cases, and we need your support to continue driving this. While lawyers are doing the work pro bono, BERSIH 2.0 has to cover cost for disbursements, research and transport.
On another note BERSIH 2.0, staff and volunteers are facing up to 120 police investigations and this too involves costs defending the people’s right to assembly and expression.

2. BERSIH 2.0 Voter Education
We continue to reach out to the six regions nationwide to educate local voters to understand the impact of re-delineation and electoral fraud. We aim to empower voters to hold their candidates accountable. This involves costs for staff and volunteers to travel across the nation.

3. BERSIH 2.0 during GE 14
We will coordinate a nationwide election-monitoring programme (PEMANTAU) to enlist ordinary citizens to monitor the conduct of the elections during the campaign period and on voting day itself. We will work with Global Bersih to monitor overseas voting.

 

BERSIH 2.0 needs funds
In order to conduct these three programmes and respond when necessary the BERSIH 2.0 office is staffed by six full time staff who work with the Steering Committee made up of volunteers. Our operational costs of running the office and carrying out our programmes comes up to RM35,000 per month.
I am making an appeal to you to contribute to sustain our work. Right now, we have enough funds for one more year only! We are relying on our common belief that our nation is worth saving and we will not give up on advocating for a clean and fair election process.
Please support BERSIH 2.0 by donating to the BERSIH 2.0 Secretariat at:
Account No:              512295102931
Account Name:       Bersih & Adil Network Sdn Bhd
Bank:                           Maybank (Petaling Jaya, Old Town Branch)
 
For further information please contact the BERSIH 2.0 office at 03 79314444 or email to [email protected]
Please share this letter of appeal.
Salam Bersih!
(Maria Chin Abdullah)
Chairperson at Bersih 2.0