MEDIA STATEMENT
16 APRIL 2018
The Government, EC and MACC must defend caretaker government principles
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) demands the
Election Commission (EC) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) take
immediate action against the blatant and open abuse of government funds for
electioneering, which has occurred throughout the country since the dissolution
of Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies.
BERSIH2.0 also strongly condemns the action of the
caretaker State and Federal Governments that have been violating principles of
caretaker governments. BERSIH 2.0 has observed and
recorded undue election hand outs by politicians using funds from every State
and Federal Government.
Some notable examples of undue
government hand outs include:
|
Date
|
Government Involved
|
Incident
|
|
8 April 2018
|
Kelantan State
Government
|
Kelantan Menteri
Besar Dato Ahmad Yakob held a function in Kuantan, Pahang, organised by the
Kelantan State Government, where he handed out TVs, fans, hampers and other
goodies. At the event, he campaigned for PAS.
|
|
10 April 2018
|
Terengganu Stte
Government
|
Terengganu
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman gave RM100,000 to Tabung
Amanah Warisan Polis (TAWP), a yearly contribution of RM50,000 to Persatuan
Kebajikan Polis (Perkep), RM400 for every police family and RM200 for every
single officer.
|
|
10 April 2018
|
Negeri Sembilan
State Government
|
Negeri
Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hassan handed out monetary aid to NGOs and
needy individuals. The aid,bearing the state
government logo, was handed out by Menteri Besar office in Wisma Negeri,
Negeri Sembilan state government building.
|
|
11 April 2018
|
Penang State
Government
|
The Penang State
Government gave an additional RM17.5 million to Islamic education
institutions in the state. The event was held in Permatang Pauh and present
at the handover of the funds were Nurul Izzah, Wan Azizah and Mat Sabu. Lim
Guan Eng used the handover to dispel allegations he is “anti-Islam”.
|
|
12 April 2018
|
Federal
Government
|
Prime Minister
Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak used an event organised by SPAD to announce 67,000
taxi drivers nationwide would receive the 1Malaysia Taxi Assistance Card (Kad
Bantuan Teksi 1Malaysia), worth RM800 each. At the event he said, “I will not
forget about taxi drivers, you are a group that is close to the government’s
heart…Ladies and gentlemen, if all of you help me, I will definitely help you.”
|
|
14 April 2018
|
Selangor State
Government
|
The Selangor
State Government organised functions in Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali’s
constituencies of Bukit Antarabangsa and Gombak. He handed out cheques,
laptops and tablets. When giving the hand outs, he said, “This is a
compassionate state…Amin, amin, amin, don't forget to vote.”
|
|
14 April 2018
|
Sabah State
Government
|
At an event
organised by the Public Services Commission, Minister and MP for Tuaran Datuk
Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor gave out RM1000 to a total of 66 local
youth associations and said Barisan Nasional would defend the youth in
Tuaran.
|
|
15 April 2018
|
Melaka State
Government
|
Melaka Chief
Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron officiating the ground breaking ceremony of
the PRIMA project in Alor Gajah.
|
These hand outs
given in the guise of government aid by elected politicians violate the
convention of caretaker governments.
BERSIH 2.0
reiterates that caretaker government guidelines prohibit combining official visits with electioneering work.
Elected officials should not make use of governmental or official machinery,
resources, transport or personnel during their electioneering work.
Furthermore, the caretaker government must not use monies from the federal or
state consolidated funds for the purposes of holding or organising political
rallies or meetings. Prior approved programmes or ongoing government aid
programmes should be conducted by civil service and not caretaker Ministers of
EXCO members.
These guidelines are
based on the internationally accepted norms and practices of caretaker
governance and were sent by BERSIH 2.0
to all political parties in 2017 as part of the Memorandum on Electoral
Reforms. BERSIH 2.0 will resend the guidelines on caretaker government
(attached at the end of this statement) to all State and Federal Governments,
and call upon the governments to adhere to the principles.
It is not enough to just use the term
'caretaker' and to return official cars, but at the same time refuse to adhere
to any of the meaningful practices.
So far, despite the brazen hand outs,
the EC and MACC, along with their much publicised joint task force, have
remained silent.
If EC Chair Tan Sri Hashim Abdullah
believes these hand outs do not have any impact on the fairness of elections,
he should state so publicly and let the rakyat judge his reasons. The MACC
should also speak out and act against the abuse of government funds and
resources.
Additionally, both bodies should
produce clear guidelines of what constitutes corrupt practices during the
election. Failure to do this would suggest the EC and MACC's complicity in
allowing the denigration of our elections to an open auction with votes up for
sale.
The Malaysian public, especially
those receiving these hand outs, must question why these goodies are being
given now and if it is the best use of government funds. Questions must also be
raised if this aid, such as BR1M, taxi drivers' assistance and funding for
Islamic schools could have been done earlier, but were delayed for the purposes
of electioneering.
Such "goodies" are not
indicative of 'caring' governance, but instead show a willingness to manipulate
and abuse the civil service and government funds for short-term personal and
political gain.
BERSIH 2.0 also call upon all voters
to take action. All Malaysians must come out to vote and vote against any
candidates that corruptly use government funds as a way to win the election..
Vote on the quality of the manifestos and politicians' track record rather than
the size of their wallet. Whoever wins the election will have access to the
same amount of funds, so vote for those who will use such funds in the interest
of the rakyat.
Reports on election
offences can be made to BERSIH 2.0 at aduan.pemantau.org, 011-17721546
(WhatsApp) or 03-79314444 (Hotline).
Issued by:
BERSIH 2.0 Steering
Committee
______________________________
Best regards,
Lochna
Media and Communications Officer
BERSIH 2.0 Secretariat
A-2-8, 8 Avenue, Jalan Sg. Jernih 8/1,
Seksyen 8, 46050 Petaling Jaya.
Tel. No : 03-7931 4444 / 019-3811 615
Fax No : 03-7931 4111
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