KUALA LUMPUR: The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) said it was disappointed with the Pakatan Harapan government's alleged abuse of state resources in the campaign at the Tanjung Piai by-election.
This surrounds the RM1,000 ‘wang ehsan’ announcement by Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal to 1,513 fishermen in southern Johor, including 544 fishermen from Tanjung Piai yesterday.
“This attempt to fish for votes from the fishermen is not illegal under current laws, but it is clearly unethical for a political party to use tax-payers' money to win elections,” said Bersih 2.0 in a statement today.
The non-governmental organisation urged Dr Sahruddin to demonstrate that the PH government adhered to the principles of free and fair elections.
This, it said, can be done by withholding the handouts and other government allocations until after the Tanjung Piai by-election.
“We acknowledge that the function of government must carry on during by-elections but for constituencies that are being contested, such announcement or distribution of new aids and allocations should cease as soon as a seat has been declared vacant or be made after the by-election to ensure level playing field.”
Bersih 2.0 said apart from the ‘wang ehsan’ disbursement, it had also recorded several instances of Federal Government ministers making monetary allocations on their visits to Tanjung Piai, both before and during the campaign period.
It added that ministers such as Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman; Rural development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun and Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, had also justified their allocations by denying they were fishing for votes.
“The timing of their generosity makes their justifications sound like lame excuses. Bersih 2.0 once again reiterates that we are not saying that these ministers have violated any election laws because such laws governing the use of government resources do not exist yet.
“We call upon lawmakers from all parties to support electoral reforms and amendments to the Election Offences Act 1954, to ensure that when it comes to elections, the playing field is level,” it said.