AT LEAST 700 police officers will be on duty to monitor the Chini by-election, which is scheduled for July 4.

Pahang police chief Abdul Jalil Hassan said the situation throughout constituency during the nomination process today was peaceful and under control.

“The nomination process went smoothly and peacefully,” he told reporters after the nomination process at the Pekan National Youth Skills Institute (IKBN) today.

He also said today, 399 police officers had been on duty as early as 6am to maintain security and managing the traffic movement around the institute.

In addition, he said 15 teams – including staff from the Election Commission (EC) – would be also monitoring the campaigns.

He said police will monitor house-to-house campaigns, which should only involve three people, while the ceramah can only be attended by a maximum of 250 people, following the implementation of the recovery movement control order (RMCO).

“I would like to advise all parties to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the EC,” he said.

Jalil said the police will discuss indoor ceramah with the EC as people who gathered in an indoor arena would be more exposed to Covid-19.

“As of now, the ceramah are permitted until midnight, however, this matter will also be discussed with the EC,” he said.

Meanwhile, the EC has issued the new guidelines for the Chini by-election, to prevent the emergence of a new ‘by-election’ cluster.

The Chini by-election on July 4 will be between Barisan Nasional’s Mohd Sharim Md Zain, 41, and two independent candidates: Mohd Shukri Mohd Ramli, 49, and Tengku Zainul Hisham Tengku Hussin, 64.

The seat is vacant following the death of Abu Bakar Harun, 60, from a heart attack on May 6.

In the 14th general election, Abu Bakar defended the constituency with a majority of 4,622 votes after securing 10,027 votes, while PAS candidate Mohd Fadhil Noor Abdul Karim received 5,405 votes and Mohamad Razali Ithnain (PKR) obtained 1,065 votes. – Bernama, June 20, 2020.