The All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Integrity, Governance, and Anti-Corruption (APPGM-IGAR), led by Shah Alam MP Azli Yusof, called for changes to the Election Offences Act 1954 to forbid the use of government resources and machinery during election campaigns [1, 2, 3, 4]. Azli emphasized that "government machinery and resources belong to the people's funds and should not be used in the interests of any party to create an uneven playing field during elections" [2].
APPGM also urged granting the Election Commission (EC) direct enforcement powers, including the authority to issue compound penalties for offences such as campaigning on polling day and failure to remove campaign materials, including those posted on social media platforms [1, 2, 3, 4]. Azli remarked, "The group urged the Election Commission to be given power to directly enforce election law. For example, it should be empowered to issue compounds for election offences such as campaigning on polling day and removing campaign materials, including social media posts" [1].
Additionally, APPGM pressed the government to declassify the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) report. This would allow the public, lawmakers, and electoral experts to debate its recommendations, including electoral system reforms like proportional representation and mixed-member proportional systems to improve representation in the lower house of Parliament [1, 2, 3, 4]. Azli stated in Mandarin, "该小组也要求政府解密选举改革委员会的报告，以便让人民、国会议员，以及选举和法律专家，就提出的建议展开讨论。这包括探讨选举制度改革，例如比例代表制、混合比例代表制，或其他更适合我国的制度，以提高人民在国会下议院的代表性" [4].
APPGM also urged the government to table, debate, and pass legislation within the current parliamentary session to separate the roles of the Attorney-General and the Public Prosecutor [2].
On July 15, APPGM publicly announced these electoral reform proposals at a press conference held at Parliament, marking the start of their push for legal changes ahead of the next election [1, 2, 3, 4].
