MIRI – Sarawak PKR has claimed that those in power are making it more difficult for opposition parties to reach out to voters during the crucial run-up to polling day on Saturday.
State PKR vice-chairman Dr Michael Teo Yu Keng told The Vibes today that PKR and other Pakatan Harapan teams on the ground are being hampered by increasingly unreasonable restrictions.
“We in PKR and other PH parties are finding it tougher to visit longhouses and villages.
“There are so-called security people who say they are working for the authorities and will stop us from talking to all the people.
“We are not even allowed to even use loudspeakers. We can only talk to just a few people at a time.
“Our teams are only allowed a few minutes to talk to the people we meet. We then have to leave. These campaign restrictions are really affecting our outreach to voters,” he said.
In contrast, the Miri MP said that GPS ministers and candidates are allowed full audiences during their visits to kampungs and longhouses.
Their visits are considered official government events.
“This is definitely very unfair. They are using all government resources at will,” he said.
As the campaign period draws to a close, election watchdog Bersih has also made findings on widespread misuse of government resources by the incumbent government.
Bersih Sarawak chairwoman Ann Teo said Bersih found such misconduct during inspection rounds.
“We deployed personnel in teams throughout the state to attend events and gatherings organised by the contesting parties.
“We discovered widespread use of government money, manpower, vehicles, and projects by the candidates from incumbent ruling parties.
“Even the caretaker chief minister who is the GPS chairman had used government resources to his advantage,” Teo said in a statement yesterday.
Many GPS candidates, she said, continued to give allocations to the people while approving or announcing huge projects.
“This cannot be allowed as a caretaker government cannot simply use government finances and assets,” she said, adding that the Election Commission should investigate. – The Vibes, December 14, 2021
