KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — A free durian event that will allegedly feature PKR’s Sungai Kandis by-election candidate must be cancelled as it will be an election offence to influence voters’ decisions, election watchdog Bersih 2.0 said today.

Bersih 2.0 said it had sighted a poster on Facebook of the July 28 event where 1,000 durians will be given out, with the poster also announcing that PKR’s Sungai Kandis candidate Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni and Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari will be attending.

"BERSIH 2.0 condemns such corrupt practices, as, if held, is tantamount to an offence under Section 8 of the Election Offences Act for treating to influence voting behaviour of voters,” the coalition’s steering committee said in a statement today, noting the event falls exactly within the constituency and the July 21-August 3 campaign period of the Sungai Kandis by-election.

The event is just mere days away from the August 4 voting day for the Sungai Kandis by-election.

The posters say 1,000 durians from Batu Kurau in Perak will be used to treat those who attend the launch of Kohijrah’s food truck carnival and Koperasi NEGM’s De’Variety shop, with the event to be held in Berjaya Park in Section 32, Shah Alam, Selangor.

The posters were posted on July 23 by Koperasi Warga Hijrah Selangor Berhad (Kohijrah) on its Facebook account, with the company said to be co-organising the event with Koperasi Kakitangan NEGM and with the two politicians listed as "special guests”.

But Bersih 2.0 said this creates a conflict of interest as Kohijrah is said to be a consolidation of microcredit programmes under the Selangor mentri besar and which was officially launched in 2015 to enlarge the middle class in Selangor.

"By having Kohijrah to organise an event, it is not only a conflict of interest, the event is a form of abuse of government machinery to campaign in favour of Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, a PKR candidate, and also a component party of the ruling coalition in Selangor, Pakatan Harapan,” the watchdog said.

Bersih 2.0 urged for the event to be cancelled immediately, adding that both the Selangor mentri besar and the PKR candidate should give a public explanation.

The polls reform group said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should investigate under the MACC Act’s Sections 3 and 7 if the event is not cancelled and such trends continue during the by-election campaign period.

"We call on all parties to refrain from the practice of electoral fraud, including personation, treating of food, undue influence through dishing out of goodies or threat and intimidation, inciting racial or religious hatred, bribery including outright vote buying and abuse of government machinery,” Bersih 2.0 said.

Saying that all state agencies should always remain neutral and non-partisan, Bersih 2.0 said: "If a state agency is going to organise any event that involves election candidates, all contesting candidates should be invited and be treated equally.”

It went on to remind the Pakatan Harapan coalition that they were voted into power as Malaysians wanted a change from the Barisan Nasional’s rule that was allegedly marred by massive corruption, saying that PH should uphold its GE14 promises to strengthen anti-corruption practices and to ensure a robust and transparent election system.