The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) refers to the Sinar Harian news report where the Deputy Minister of Education YB Lim Hui Ying announced additional allocations to three schools in DUN Pelangai on September 22.

Two of the three schools received RM30,000 each while the third received RM50,000. According to her, these were in addition to the previously given allocations to government-aided schools in Pahang.

BERSIH is of the view that the act of announcing such allocations is a form of undue influence by the government during the election period. We have issued a statement during the six state elections where we urged the Madani government led by Prime Minister YAB Anwar Ibrahim to comply with the 3C prohibition: No Conditions, No Campaign and No Candidate, so that any announcement by Ministries and Federal Agencies during the election period is not abused in an attempt to win elections.

Based on these guidelines, the announcement by the Deputy Minister of Education YB Lim for the three schools in the Pelangai by-election does indeed violate the No Campaign guidelines. If additional allocations are given to all SJKC or SJKT schools throughout Pahang, the announcement can be considered not specific to schools in the DUN only.

Although it is not an offence under the current law to make any announcement of allocation during election, BERSIH stated that the action is in contradiction with the principles of clean and fair elections because the Opposition has no access to such resources or government machinery.

Released by:
The Steering Committee of BERSIH