THE Tanjung Piai by-election was marred by misuse of government resources and unlawful police restriction, election watchdog Bersih 2.0 said in its observation report.

In the report released today, Bersih 2.0 said it documented 21 election offences and 10 cases of misconduct since the Tanjung Piai parliament seat fell vacant.

“Bersih 2.0 deployed five observers to observe the by-election and (they) documented 21 election offences and 10 cases of misconduct.

“The 21 election offences comprise three cases of treating and gifting during the campaigning period and 18 cases of breaching the limitation of campaigning on polling day,” the Bersih 2.0 steering committee said in a statement.

The election watchdog said there was a worsening trend among PH ministers and the Johor menteri besar of misusing government resources to campaign.

It added that all 10 misconduct cases involved Pakatan Harapan ministers and Johor menteri besar announcing new development projects and allocations that targeted the people in Tanjung Piai. The total amount of allocation announced was RM23.93 million.

“While we recognise that the federal government and state government of Johor need to continue to operate during by-elections, using state resources to win support for candidate of ruling parties is unethical.

“The PH government should adhere to the principles of free and fair elections by withholding announcement of any new project or allocation during the by-election period,” Bersih 2.0 said.

It also condemned the unlawful restriction imposed by police on the requirement of a permit for door-to-door campaigning, adding such a restriction had no legal basis.

“We wish to remind the police, the Election Commission (EC) and all parties that when it comes to elections, the EC is the constitutionally mandated authority to conduct elections, not the police.

“Unless there are actual security or public order concerns, freedom to campaign is a key element of free and fair elections,” the group said.

In the November 16 by-election, Barisan Nasional candidate Wee Jeck Seng won with a majority of 15,086 votes, 22% more than the 20,731 votes he received in the 14th general election last year, when he lost to the PH candidate Dr Md Farid Md Rafik of Bersatu.

Wee of MCA polled 25,466 votes to the 10,380 for PH’s Karmaine Sardini.

Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam won 1,707 votes, while Berjasa’s Badrulhisham Abdul Aziz took 850.

The two independent candidates, Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abdul Ghaffar, got 380 and 32 votes, respectively.

The by-election was called following the death of Farid on September 21 due to heart complications. – November 29, 2019.