Malaysia's electoral reforms a 'Band-Aid on a gaping wound' Deep divisions: Ambiga Sreenevasan, leader of electoral reform pressure group Bersih 2.0, addresss the media. The head of Bersih, the organisation campaigning for clean elections in Malaysia, has criticised reform of the country's Election Commission, a move aimed at healing deep divisions after last month's disputed elections. Ambiga Sreenevasan said the reforms announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak at the weekend were like "fixing a gaping wound by using Band-Aid remedies" and would not work. Ms Ambiga said the commission had lost the confidence of the public and its top officials should resign or be removed and replaced with "commissioners of the highest integrity and courage." She also criticised Mr Najib's announcement that the commission would report to a special committee that would include opposition representatives. "To make them report to another committee is unconstitutional because if you look at the federal constitution they are supposed to be an independent body," she said. Under the reforms the Election Commission, under fire over its conduct of the knife-edge May 5 poll, will report to a parliamentary committee rather than to the prime minister's office as was set out in the country's 1957 constitution. "I understand that sections of the public want to see our election processes strengthened," Mr Najib said without providing any further details of the changes. Hundreds of thousands of people have attended rallies across the country to protest against the election result where a three-party opposition alliance won 54 per cent of the popular vote but failed to oust the Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled since independence from Britain in 1957. Malaysia has a gerrymandered electoral system that favours Malay Muslims in rural electorates. The opposition, led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, is preparing to mount a legal challenge to the results in 30 close-run seats, claiming there was vote rigging through fake ballots and blackouts at polling centres. Lim kit Siang, a veteran opposition politician, said Election Commission reform appeared to be a step in the right direction but said its leaders should be replaced and the opposition should be consulted on the reforms. "The Election Commission needs a clean start," Mr Lim said. "There is no doubt that the EC has, in many instances, acted as a Barisan Nasional [advocate] in attacking opposition leaders, rather than acting under an impartial rule," he said. The government has denied any fraud took place and said the elections were fair.