PKR has been hit with a RM10,000 compound after a “no crowd” gathering, which the party says did not violate any laws including the recent instruction issued by the Health Ministry.

The party’s information chief, Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, said the compound was issued by police in Taman Krubong Jaya, Malacca, yesterday.

The Hang Tuah Jaya MP said election offences are not yet applicable and the event yesterday did not involve any physical interaction.

“Election laws are only applicable once nomination starts. Nomination day is still ahead of us and yesterday there was no physical contact, there was no crowd or gathering, and the speech was conducted through a loudspeaker from a moving vehicle,” he said in a press conference today which was streamed live by the party.

He said PKR will study the matter before deciding to take the matter to court but will also write to the Health Ministry and the Home Ministry.

“We regret the incident. We made it clear that there was no gathering or crowd involved. It was a mobile ceramah.

“The Health Ministry should look into this and give a detailed explanation on how a party can carry out campaigning in the coming elections.

“As far as we understand, we didn’t break any laws. We will write to the relevant ministries as well as to the prime minister.

“Our lawyers will look at the compound and we will see from there on,” he said.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had earlier announced that all physical gatherings and social events related to the upcoming Malacca elections are banned from October 25 to November 27.

Citing a need to reduce the risk of new Covid-19 infections, Khairy said the ban includes functions to launch election machinery of the various parties.

Shamsul also claimed that Barisan Nasional held a similar gathering last night but involved physical interaction.

“Were they also slapped with this compound?” he questioned.

Political parties are gearing up for the Malacca election scheduled for November 20 following the collapse of the state government after four lawmakers withdrew support for Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali.

This is the second government to be ousted in the state through defections after the 2018 general election.

Lim Kit Siang today also questioned if authorities will act against Najib Razak and Muhyiddin Yassin for campaigning in Malacca. 

He said if there will be no action taken against the two former prime ministers, the ban on election campaigns must then be lifted. – October 31, 2021.