Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan flags are seen along a road ahead of the Johor state election, in Johor Jaya February 28, 2022. — Picture by Hari Anggara
JOHOR BARU, Feb 28 — Johor police today advised all political parties, as well as their supporters, to avoid any provocations that will lead to confrontations and disputes throughout the state election campaign period.
Their state election spokesman Supt Ibrahim Mat Som said all political parties are reminded to adhere to the campaigning time period that must not exceed two hours and must end by 10pm daily.
He added that the political parties must also adhere strictly to the standard operating procedures (SOP) to curb Covid-19 as well as those under the law.
“Those who are unsure about related issues can contact the police for further action,” said Ibrahim in a statement issued here.
The statement by the police comes after a viral video on a pro-Datuk Seri Najib Razak Facebook page called “Sahabat Bossku” made its rounds earlier where a female DAP leader’s request to extend a political talk after the stipulated 10pm was denied by police in Yong Peng on February 26.
The one minute, 22 second video featured DAP’s Seputeh MP Teresa Kok Suh Sim asking the police to extend their political ceramah by 30 minutes to end at 10.30pm as the party’s speaker Anthony Loke Siew Fook arrived late.
After her request was denied, Kok had allegedly said that once DAP comes to power they will not have such SOPs.
In the statement, Ibrahim said police have also opened two investigation papers with one related to Section 500 of the Penal Code for defamation and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for improper use of network facilities.
He said another case involved Section 269 of the Penal Code and Regulation 16 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2021 for flouting SOP that have been fixed by the National Security Council (NSC) during the state election period.
“At the same time, police have approved a total of 53 permits for political parties to hold political talks,” said Ibrahim.
The EC has set March 12 as the polling date for the Johor state election and early voting on March 8.
Johor has 56 state constituencies, with more than 2.59 million voters who are eligible to cast their ballot in this state election. The EC is targeting a 70 per cent voter turnout.