No official complaints of political parties misusing government assets - EC

BENTONG - There has been no official complaints regarding allegations of government machinery and assets misuse in the recent State Legislative Assembly By-Election in Pelangai so far.

Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said any party claiming misconduct during the campaign period must make an official complaint to the EC immediately.

According to him, so far, the by-election campaign has proceeded smoothly without any major issues or incidents.

"At this stage... Alhamdulillah (thank God), there have been no unwarranted complaints regarding the campaign. We have also not received any reports of government asset misuse.

"As long as there are no complaints, we consider the campaign to be proceeding smoothly. This means that the two-week campaign for the Pelangai by-election is going well," he said after inspecting the preparations for the Pelangai by-election at the Felda Kemasul Public Counting Center here today.

He was responding to the call from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) for the EC to monitor political parties that misuse government machinery and assets during the Pelangai by-election.

Yesterday, Pas Deputy President Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said monitoring the distribution of incentives, whether by the state government or the federal government, to the people during the campaign should also be supervised.

He added that, in addition to the use of government machinery and the presence of state government agency officials, the distribution of incentives, to the people who will cast their votes should also be closely monitored.

Tuan Ibrahim who is also the Cheka assemblyman noted that such practices clearly contradict the spirit of the reform struggle that was championed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim 25 years ago.