SG KANDIS POLLS | Bersih has slammed a durian festival organised by a Selangor government-linked cooperative in Sungai Kandis constituency, that will feature both Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari and by-election candidate Zawawi Ahmad Mughni.
A Facebook posting Koperasi Hijrah Selangor (Kohijrah) said they would "belanja" (treat) visitors to 1,000 durians from Perak, in conjunction with the launch of a food truck carnival in Section 32 Shah Alam.
The posting said Amirudin would launch the programme, which will also feature Zawawi as a "special guest".
Kohijrah is linked to Hijrah Selangor, which is a micro-credit programme for entrepreneurs by the Selangor government.
Bersih said in a statement today that the program is corrupt and would be in breach of election rules.
"Bersih condemns such corrupt practices, as, if held, is tantamount to an offence under Section 8 of the Election Offences Act for treating to influence voting behaviour of voters.
"By having Kohijrah to organise an event, it is not only a conflict of interest, it's a form of abuse of government machinery to campaign in favour of Zawawi, a PKR candidate, and also a component party of the ruling coalition in Selangor, Pakatan Harapan," it said.
Bersih called for the programme to be cancelled immediately, and for Amirudin and Zawawi to provide a public explanation of the programme.
It added that if the programme is not cancelled, then the MACC should investigate and take action.
Bersih called on all sides to refrain from electoral fraud, including treating food.
"If a state agency is going to organise any events that involve election candidates, all contesting candidates should be invited and be treated equally.
"All state agencies should remain neutral and non-partisan at all times," it said.
Bersih reminded Harapan to uphold its manifesto which promised to rid Malaysia of corruption, and that people had voted them in to get rid of a corrupt government.
'MB's photo used without permission'
Meanwhile, the Malay Mail quoted Fareed Ashaaree, the press and community secretary to Amirudin saying that the menteri besar's office was unaware of such programme and that his photo had been used without permission by Kohijrah.
“MB's office has not been informed of such event and the use of MB's image on the poster is without the permission of the office. YAB mentri besar is fully committed to complying with EC's regulation for free and fair elections,” Fareed was quoted saying, in reference to the Election Commision.
The Aug 4 by-election sees a three-cornered fight among Zawawi, BN's Lokman Noor Adam and independent candidate K Murthy.
The Sungai Kandis state seat fell vacant upon the death of incumbent assemblyperson Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei early this month due to complications from lymphoma.
On May 9, Mat Shuhaimi obtained 23,998 votes to win the Malay-majority seat, defeating BN's Kamaruzzaman Johar (11,518), PAS' Mohd Yusof Abdullah (7,573) and PRM's Hanafiah Husin (76).
