Anwar denies wrongdoing during PD by-election

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has denied any wrongdoing during the Port Dickson by-election as levelled against him by electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0.
Bersih 2.0 identified six wrongdoings committed by Anwar alone in a total of 10 during the two week campaign period.
According to Bersih, among Anwar's six wrongdoings were the free tuition proposal, free concert at his operations room, a dinner organised for him and his appearance at an army event with Defence Minister Mohammad Sabu.
There were also four offences committed by PAS, which included giving away of prizes during a lucky draw, free mooncakes and halal bah kut teh treats.
"I was invited as a guest for the concert, you must ask the organisers why they invited only me and not the other candidates," he said when asked by the media at the Parliament lobby today.
"I listened to a few songs at the concert and I left after a short while," he added.
Anwar explained his attendance to several dinners organised by NGOs during the campaign period was merely to meet his voters.
"There was one event at the mosque that I attended organised by the residents just to meet voters but they served a meal," he said.
"They served, so I ate," Anwar added.
He also said that he attended a dinner organised by NGOs in the Chinese community but he didn't have time to eat.
He said he agrees that the rules need to be tighter but as for him, he feels he did not commit any offence.
"I feel the rules need to be revised and to be tighter, we must discuss this, but as for me I don't feel I committed any wrongdoing," he said.
He said this was merely the opinion of Bersih 2.0 but they haven't approached him to ask for his comments.
"They haven't asked me for my views but nevertheless we should look into it and answer them correctly," he said, adding that the Election Commission should have more power in probing electoral offences as such matters are only probed by the police.
Meanwhile, the PKR leader said the party leadership needs to be impartial when dealing with election offences.
"There will be groups making reports or complaints about other groups, we as leaders need to be impartial and leave it to the judgment of the Central Election Committee and the party's Appeal and Disciplinary Committee," he said.
He was referring to the party's incumbent women's chief Zuraida Kamaruddin who said the party's disciplinary committee needs to be more proactive and punish any wrongdoings in the election.
She said that action needs to be taken against wrongdoings regardless of whether a report is lodged.
On Sunday, police confirmed that a device found on a table at the Kuala Selangor Indoor Stadium during the Kuala Selangor PKR division election was a signal jammer to block telecommunication signals.
This led to the Kuala Selangor PKR polls to be postponed to a later date.