KUANTAN: Stern action should be taken against individuals who were allegedly involved in a fight and those who inspected a police vehicle at the Rantau by-election yesterday.
PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he supports any action taken by the authorities against the individuals who were involved in the two incidents.
Describing their act as rude and unacceptable, he said the party’s disciplinary bureau would investigate the involvement of its members in the alleged offences.
“As the president, I will not take their action lightly and urge the police to take necessary action. There’s no reason for the party workers to be rude and arrogant, or try to take over the job of the police (referring to police vehicle incident).
“If the allegations are proven genuine, I will support any stern action from the police as the party (PKR) respects the law. The incident is also being investigated by PKR’s disciplinary committee,” he told reporters after opening the Pahang PKR office here today.
Also present was Kuantan member of parliament Fuziah Salleh and Indera Mahkota Member of Parliament Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
Anwar was commenting on the two incidents in Rantau yesterday where a fight broke out among Pakatan Harapan supporters after the results were announced last night.
Earlier, during polling day, five individuals had stopped a police mobile patrol vehicle (MPV) and demanded to inspect the car, claiming that there were excess ballot papers in the vehicle.
The incident, which has since gone viral following several videos posted on social media, saw several individuals checking the car outside the vote tallying centre at SJKC Chung Hua in Rantau.
Meanwhile, Anwar described the three consecutive defeats suffered by Pakatan Harapan during the Cameron Highlands (parliamentary seat), Semenyih and Rantau (both state seats) by-elections were not a trend, saying by-elections were different.
“PH did well during the Seri Setia and Balakong by-elections and even in Port Dickson. So it’s wrong to say this is a trend. By-election is always tough for the ruling government.
“Rantau is Umno’s stronghold. I’m not giving excuses as I also went to the ground to campaign but I realised that we are facing some problems with the Malay voters. We cannot blame them but instead can look into ways to try to approach them,” he said.