KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — Umno information chief Isham Jalil has exhorted Perikatan Nasional (PN) to show proof in order to deny allegations that the latter had bribed voters during the recent general elections (GE15).
In a statement on his Facebook page yesterday, he told PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin to allow voters to judge by themselves following viral videos and police reports lodged against the coalition for alleged vote-buying.
"You said you have strong evidence that PN supposedly did not bribe voters in the last general elections. If that is true, state the said strong evidence so that Malaysians can judge for themselves and avoid being defamed if you are right.
"And provide explanations on the viral videos and police reports in connection with PN’s people giving money to voters and asking the recipients of cash to swear in Allah’s name that they would vote for PAS,” he said.
He also called the action of using Allah’s name to bribe voters "vile”, adding that lying to cover up the practice of bribery was not a good strategy and likening it to digging a deeper grave for oneself.
"Stop using and riding on religion to make what is 'haram' as 'halal'.
"What is 'haram' will always be 'haram',” he said. "Haram" means forbidden in Islamic jurisprudence, while "halal" is "permissible".
Yesterday, Hamzah admitted that PN election candidates had given money to voters, but it was at the request of the voters themselves.
He said that voters would come up to their candidates during the campaigning to ask for financial aid.
Before that, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang reportedly said on Saturday that giving cash handouts to voters before an election does not amount to bribery.
He called it "charity” instead, adding that although it was against the rules of the Election Commission, it was what some voters wanted.
