THE Sungai Kandis by-election is the acid test for whether the new government will be different from Barisan Nasional when it comes to elections.

This will test how Pakatan Harapan leaders campaign in the by-election, scheduled on August 4, and how hands-off they will be with the Election Commission, said electoral reform group Bersih 2.0.

“PH now has lots of money (by virtue of being the government), so it is now important for them to know what the offences they should not commit are.

“They should not commit the same offences as the previous government,” said Bersih co-chairman Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari.

The by-election will also test how independent and impartial the EC can be during an election.

One positive development so far is that Bersih 2.0 was invited to officially monitor the election.

“We have requested to be allowed to send 109 observers for each voting channel. But the EC requested we send less,” Shahrul Aman said.

“At least we know that they will be more transparent this time than in the past.”

The electoral watchdog had in the past been barred from sending observers.

Bersih and PH itself has in the past accused BN of abusing government resources to campaign in national and by-elections.

These offences include using the civil service and the bureaucratic machinery to campaign for BN candidates and announcing government allocations during the official campaigning period.

These handouts were allegedly used to influence votes. Such acts can be considered offences under Section 8 of the Election Offences Act 1954.

In Bersih’s own election monitoring report on GE14, the group detected 46 cases of bribery and vote-buying during the 11-day campaign period.

Bersih, along with Suaram and Pusat Komas, said there were also 196 cases of gifts being given to influence voters, as well as 105 incidents of abuse of government machinery.

The majority of these offences had been committed by BN candidates.

The EC had also been accused of favouring BN and turning a blind eye towards the former coalition’s offences.

The GE14 report has been submitted to the EC, and will be handed over to members of the new government.

PH defeated BN during the May 9 general election, and promised to reform the electoral system. But it remains to be seen when these reforms will be carried out, as some require amending several laws.

“The Sungai Kandis by-election must be conducted at a higher standard than previous elections. These things must not be allowed to be repeated,” said Shahrul Aman.

The EC has set July 21 for nomination day and August 4 for the voting day for the Sungai Kandis by-election.

The seat fell vacant after PKR assemblyman Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei died of cancer last week.

Shuhaimi won the seat by 23,998 votes in a four-cornered fight on May 9.

PKR has yet to announce a candidate, while PAS said it will only contest if other opposition parties do not. – July 13, 2018.