PETALING JAYA: The police are being “unreasonable” for insisting that candidates for the Tanjung Piai by-election be required to apply for permits to campaign from door to door, according to Bersih 2.0.
The electoral watchdog group said the move by the police to impose the rule would restrict a candidate’s campaigning methods and it was “absurd” to set it only in the middle of the campaign period.
“The requirement is unreasonable and unfair to candidates,” it said in a statement today.
Bersih said the Election Commission (EC) being the highest authority in managing elections, should reject the proposal by the police.
“(Furthermore,) there has never been such restrictions in the history of elections in Malaysia,” it pointed out.
It said Section 24B of the Election Offences Act 1954 clearly stated that permits were needed for rallies, meetings, displays or other events involving speeches or lectures only.
“Given that police permits are not needed under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, it is unreasonable to require a police permit for door-to-door campaigning,” Bersih added.
It proposed that the need for police permits for political talks be abolished.
In the statement, Bersih also called on the police and the EC to revoke the requirement and allow candidates for the Tanjung Piai by-election to freely campaign in whichever way they chose as long as they adhered to the Election Offences Act and related laws.
On Tuesday, EC chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun reminded all parties and candidates in the by-election that they needed permits from the police to move from door to door to canvass for votes given that it was also a form of campaigning.
