SABAK BERNAM, June 15 — A civil servant briefing by two federal agencies and 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) here was not meant for the Sungai Besar by-election on Saturday, its organisers said.

An officer from the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) of the Prime Minister’s Department said the event at Sekinchan this morning was planned long ago as part of a nationwide road-tour and was only coincidentally held days before the June 18 poll.

“This has been done all over Malaysia. This is now Selangor’s turn and the focus area chosen is here (Sekinchan). It has no relation to the current politics at all,” the person told reporters on condition of anonymity.

“The crowd is civil servants with the majority being teachers,” the officer said, when highlighting that the forum was not open to the general public.

Regarding the presence of the Barisan Nasional candidate for the by-election, Budiman Mohd Zohdi, at the event, the officer said he attended in his capacity as the assemblyman for Sungai Panjang, one of two state constituencies in Sungai Besar.

Ng Suee Lim, the DAP assemblyman for Sekinchan where the event was held, said he was not invited.

“No, I have not heard about this, no one told me,” Ng said when contacted by Malay Mail Online.

The closed-door event organised at a school in Sekinchan was attended by 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy, National Civics Bureau (BTN) director-general Datuk Ibrahim Saad and Bukit Aman’s Counter Terrorism deputy director Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

Among issues that the trio explained to the audience included terrorism threats, the misuse of the Internet and how 1MDB has been played up by the opposition ahead of the Sungai Besar by-election.

The Sungai Besar by-election is a three-way contest between Budiman, PAS’ Dr Rani Osman and Amanah’s Azhar Shukur.