KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 ― A total of 71 election offences were committed by political parties contesting in the recently concluded 15th Johor state election earlier this month, electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 said today.
The findings were disclosed in Bersih 2.0’s Johor state election observation report through both field observations in 21 contested constituencies and online.
However, Bersih 2.0 pointed out the number of cases reported does not fully reflect the complete circumstances of overall offences committed during the state election since the number of observed areas were limited and there could be others that may have gone unnoticed and unreported.
Accordingly, Barisan Nasional (BN) tops the list at 33 offences committed, followed by Perikatan Nasional (PN) at 24 with Pakatan Harapan-PKR at five.
A majority of the offences ― 13 of them ― were committed by BN during polling day when campaigning was still ongoing despite it being not allowed through the setup of voter canvassing booths near polling stations.
As for PN, the majority of offences ― 19 of them ― committed were those of “treatings” and banquets which constituted corrupt practices under Section 8 of the Election Offences Act.
“Amongst the common offences committed include free petrol giveaway for motorcyclists, dinner banquets organised by third parties which were attended by candidates and leaders from contesting political parties and various aid given to voters during campaigning,” the report said.
Separately, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) committed two offences, and seven more were committed by other parties or independent candidates.
Other election offences observed include offering bribes and state assets and resources abuse where both BN and PN were the only offenders.
Bersih 2.0 said despite receiving numerous tip-offs of alleged bribes and vote-buying at several constituencies, it only managed to witness one particular incident at a polling centre — at the Kukup voting centre in SK Serkat, Pontian — involving BN’s election machinery.
The report also said the number of offences committed in the Johor state election was far greater than those committed during the Melaka state election (35 offences) and Sarawak state election (59 offences).
The full observation report can be accessed through Bersih 2.0’s Facebook page here.
