THE practice of having symbols of political parties on goods or items given to the people during election campaigns should be taken seriously as it is a form of corruption and a breach of the anti-corruption law, Special Committee on Corruption chairman Dr Rais Yatim said.

He said any form of assistance given to the people should not carry any political party symbol as it is a form of bribery to canvass for votes.

“Anyone who receives aid packages (which have a political party symbol) should immediately make a police report or go directly to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“For the sake of democracy, your self-worth is much more valuable than a packet of rice and a bottle of cooking oil,” he said in a statement issued by the parliament today.

Rais also expressed the need for the Election Commission (EC) to be more firm in enforcing the Election Offences Act 1954.

In expressing his concern over acts of bribery during elections, he said the EC and MACC should be alert and take action to prevent them from getting widespread.

The EC has set November 19 as polling day with nomination on November 5 and early voting on November 15.

The national polls will involve 222 parliamentary seats nationwide and the state seats in Perak (59), Pahang (42) and Perlis (15).

The Bugaya state by-election in Sabah will also be held at the same time. – Bernama, November 3, 2022.