KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — Delivering aid to fishermen is not against any law, but is still ethically wrong, the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) said today amid reports of government handouts with campaigning underway for the Tanjung Piai by-election.
The electoral watchdog said that while government functions are not to be interrupted during by-elections, announcements or distributions of allocations should cease immediately after a seat has been declared vacant.
It then cited the latest reported handout from Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal as an attempt to fish for votes.
“We urge the Johor MB to demonstrate that the Pakatan Harapan government adheres to the principles of free and fair elections by withholding the handouts and other government allocations till after the Tanjung Piai by-election.
“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,” it said in a statement.
On November 6, Dr Sahruddin announced that 1,513 fishermen in southern Johor, including 544 fishermen from Tanjung Piai, will receive a special aid of RM1,000 each beginning next week from the state government.
The polls watchdog also said it has recorded several instances of federal government ministers making monetary allocations on their visits to Tanjung Piai, both before and during the campaign period.
Some of those ministers included 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.
“While they have justified their allocations by denying they were fishing for votes but the timing of their generosity makes their justifications sound like lame excuses,” it added.
Bersih 2.0 also reiterated that these ministers have not violated any election laws because such laws governing the use of government resources were non-existent.
“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.
