POLLS watchdog Bersih 2.0 must do more to highlight election offences committed by ruling party candidate Anwar Ibrahim in the Port Dickson by-election, said independent candidates today.

One of them, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, said Bersih needed to be proactive as the Pakatan Harapan candidate had an unfair advantage over his rivals.

He gave examples of Anwar having access to soldiers in the army camps as well as mosques in the constituency.

He also questioned the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry’s carnival sale, which is to be held this weekend.

“We hope Bersih can monitor all these, not just observe,” he said in a press conference with two other independent candidates and Bersih in Port Dickson this morning.

Another independent, Lau Sek Yan, also expressed her dissatisfaction with Bersih for saying that it was still compiling complaints instead of taking action against such breaches.

“Why wait for someone to lodge a report? Who actually are our defenders? How long does Bersih want to wait?” she asked.

Bersih’s acting chairman, Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari, said that it was difficult for the watchdog to monitor everything as it lacked the resources.

He said Bersih had 18 observers on the ground who were working with the Election Commission’s enforcement unit and the local council.

“But we admit that we can’t catch everything. We hope the public and the candidates will work with us in highlighting those who commit electoral offences through our website pemantau.org,” he said.

He also said that Bersih had yet to receive any reports and was still in the process of compiling complaints.

When met later, Shahrul said Bersih had received complaints about the PKR president-elect meeting army veterans in a programme yesterday.

Anwar had arrived at the event while Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu was giving his speech.

Shahrul said he also saw a video clip that showed Anwar leaving the ceremony in the same vehicle Mohamad was in.

Mohamad had announced goodies for the veterans at the event, his second visit to the camp since Anwar was named a candidate.

The by-election on October 13 will see a seven-cornered fight with five independents in the ring, including former Umno strongman and Negri Sembilan ex-menteri besar Isa Samad.

Leading the race is Anwar, PAS’ Mohd Nazari Mokhtar, and independents Saiful Bukhari Azlan, Lau Seck Yan, Stevie Chan, and Kan Chee Yuen.

The Port Dickson by-election was called after its incumbent MP, Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, vacated the seat to allow Anwar to contest to make his return to Parliament. – October 5, 2018.