MINISTRIES must not be allowed to interfere in the running of elections as it is the responsibility of the Election Commission (EC) to do so, Bersih 2.0 chairman Thomas Fann said.

He said the involvement of ministries in elections, on grounds of the Covid-19 epidemic, can lead to elements of bias.

“With ministries like the Health Ministry (MOH) having a bigger say in elections nowadays, there can be a temptation to be biased,” he said in a virtual press conference today.

He added this was because ministers were part of a political party, and this would allow them to take sides.

“Restrictions during campaigning may seem to be fair for everybody but the incumbent government would always have a built-in advantage to conduct a so-called official duty during elections.

“For instance during the recent Malacca polls, the launching of Bas Penyayang by the caretaker chief minister favoured the incumbent.

“Also, the incumbent government and parties have better media coverage,” he said.

According to him, it can also be politically motivated if ministries interfered in the polls.

“The fact that on polling day, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin himself called upon people to vote for Barisan Nasional (BN). This showed a conflict of interest as he was the one in charge of setting the standard operating procedure for the polls.”

Qyira Yusri, the co-founder of Undi18 who was also present in the virtual press conference, said this was why EC should be independent and others should not interfere.

“Other ministries should not also get involved as they are not used to conducting an election,” she said.

On polling day of the Malacca elections, Khairy posted a poster on his Instastory urging Malacca voters to vote for BN.

“Choose BN for stability and prosperity,” the poster read.

EC deputy chairman Azmi Sharom confirmed it was in the law that there was “no campaigning permitted on polling day.”

Section 26 of the Election Offences Act 1954 governs limitations on polling day and prohibits the issuance of campaign statements on polling day.

The Malacca elections were conducted under a strict Covid-19 SOP set by MOH and the National Security Council. – December 3, 2021.