Why can’t I attend a dinner, Anwar asks Bersih

Asila Jalil Asila Jalil Updated 7 years ago · Published on 9 Oct 2018 6:10PM · 4 Comments

PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim says other candidates in the Port Dickson by-election have been attending community events without raising the ire of election watchdog Bersih 2.0. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Kamal Ariffin, October 9, 2018.

PORT Dickson by-election candidate Anwar Ibrahim said he had to oblige a community dinner held in the federal seat before polling on Saturday.

The PKR president-elect said other candidates also attended dinners prior to polling day and asked why he was singled out.

“If the community invites me for a dinner, what am I supposed to do? 

“The other candidates also attending dinners, why can’t I have a dinner?” he told reporters after delivering a speech at the Malaysia: A New Dawn investment conference in Kuala Lumpur today. 

Anwar was responding to a statement by elections watchdog Bersih 2.0 earlier today which said the free dinner for 3,000 to 4,000 people to which Anwar was invited was no different from the feast hosted in Penang by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho during the 13th general election. 

Low, also known as Jho Low, organised a concert in Penang which featured several celebrities prior to GE13 in May 2008. 

Members of the military waiting for their turn to cast their vote for the Port Dickson by-election at Pusat Latihan Asas Tentera Darat (PUSASDA) in Port Dickson today. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, October 9, 2018.

It is unclear who is organising the dinner on Friday but Anwar was one of its guests. 

Concerns were first raised by Lukut assemblyman Choo Ken Hwa who said such a practice by Pakatan Harapan could turn the new government into “Barisan Nasional 2.0 or Umno 2.0”.

Bersih agreed with Choo that the dinner was unhealthy campaign practice and violated the Election Offences Act which prohibits treating of food, drink, refreshment or provision to induce voters to vote for a particular candidate. 

Bersih urged the organisers to postpone the dinner until after the by-election.

Anwar is in a seven-cornered battle for the seat. He is up against five independent candidates – Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, Isa Samad, Lau Seck Yan, Stevie Chan and Kan Chee Yuen – and air force veteran Mohd Nazari Mokhtar of PAS. – October 9, 2018.

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Comments

  • As a politician you are beholden to uphold the law. If you have a problem with this most basic of concepts you are clearly unfit to hold any office, at any level.

    Posted 7 years ago by Mitch Gelber · Reply

  • PM in waiting?!? Really!?!?

    Posted 7 years ago by Jebat Hebat · Reply

  • No one can change the perception it is a violation and this event should not become a precedent in new Malaysia.

    Posted 7 years ago by Concerned Citizen · Reply

  • Bersih like a ship without a captain now, they should have a right person to lead them first. Don't compare the previous government with the present one.

    Posted 7 years ago by Thiagarajan Ramasamy · Reply