KLUANG, Sept 22 — The Opposition Perikatan Nasional (BN) wants police to investigate the ruling Barisan Nasional for what it denounced as voter bribery during campaigning for the Mahkota state by-election in Johor.
The PN Youth wing election machinery coordinator Shazni Sulaiman and Bersatu member Badrul Hisham Shaharin filed a police report at the Kluang police station yesterday, news portal Free Malaysia Today reported.
“We also saw the BN candidate (Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah) together with the menteri besar during the ‘Jelajah Orang Mahkota’ event,” Shazni was quoted telling reporters outside the police station.
He claimed the two-day event organised by the Johor government to be an inducement for Mahkota constituents so they would vote for BN on September 28.
He claimed some of the prizes on offer during the event included motorcycles, allegedly worth thousands of ringgit and can be considered a corrupt practice under the Election Offences Act 1954.
“BN claims this carnival is not part of its campaign, but it is clearly a lie because their candidate accompanied Onn Hafiz at almost all the events,” Shazni was quoted as saying.
He was referring to the BN candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi respectively.
The PN candidate is former footballer Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah.
The Mahkota poll was called following the deat of its BN representative Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Husin on August 2 while under treatment at the Enche’ Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital.
Onn Hafiz previously asked all political parties to adopt the gentlemanly method while campaigning and not to resort to underhanded tactics to win the seat.
Yesterday, national news agency Bernama reported Onn Hafiz commending all campaigners for maintaining the harmony in following what he dubbed the “Johor Way”.