Bersih: 347 election offences committed by political parties during GE15
Bersih said that Barisan Nasional (BN) chalked up the highest number of cases related to food treating and gifting, with 24 cases, followed by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) with 18 and nine cases respectively.
(MMO) – The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections’ (Bersih) observation report on the 15th general election (GE15) listed a total of 347 election offences committed by various parties.
The report said there were 173 offences during polling day on November 19, followed by 58 instances of food treating and gifting and 40 incidents of abuse of government resources.
It also said that there were five reported cases of bribery and vote-buying and seven for excessive spending.
Other offences involved intimidation and violent behaviour, early and postal voting, biased behaviour by public servants and institutions, and the electoral roll.
Bersih said that Barisan Nasional (BN) chalked up the highest number of cases related to food treating and gifting, with 24 cases, followed by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) with 18 and nine cases respectively.
“Bersih defines the offence of treating as any campaign activity involving the treating of food, drinks and giving of gifts, food aid or other valuable items with the intention of influencing voters to vote for a particular party or candidate.
“This activity also includes attractions or prizes such as lucky draws to encourage voters to attend campaign events for candidates or political parties,” it said in its report.
Bersih added that BN also led the pack when it came to allegedly abusing government resources.
“There are two forms of abuse of government resources during elections, which are undue government handouts and inducement and use of government assets for campaigning.
“BN committed five offences for each of the cases, while PH and PN each has three offences for undue government handouts and inducement and one offence for use of government assets for campaigning,” the report said.
Bersih defined undue government handouts and inducement as “gifts provided by a ministry, agency, government department, or any government institution during campaign events”.
“These gifts are usually an attempt to influence voters to vote for a particular candidate or political party.
“Bersih also defines government assets as premises such as schools, hospitals, and police stations, and government-owned vehicles are helicopters, boats, and official government vehicles such as vans, jeeps, and other types of vehicles.
“Civil servants who campaign during working hours are also considered as government resources,” the report added.
As for offences purportedly involving bribery and vote buying, Bersih said PN was accused of committing three offences, while BN and PH had one offence each.
“The reports we received were related to provision of money by political parties and the financing of return trips to vote, commonly committed by PAS (PN), followed by PH and BN.
“However, Bersih Monitoring Team is unable to draw a conclusive finding on whether corruption during election increased or decreased in GE15, due to insufficient data.
“Nevertheless, reports were still coming in pertaining to alleged vote-buying through the distribution of envelopes containing money from house to house, financing of travel expenses, and giving money at headquarters or offices.
“The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), in its statement, reported 11 complaints related to 28 corruption and abuse of power during GE15,” the report said.
Bersih also said both PN and PH stood accused of two offences each for excessive spending during the election campaign, to BN’s one.
