The act of several ministers promising development if BN candidate Mah Siew Keong wins in Teluk Intan is tantamount to bribery, said Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel).
The Election Offences Act 1954 states clearly that a person involved in certain activities that may influence voters is guilty of vote buying and bribery, said its president Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh.
He was responding to the promises made by Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek and Federal Territory Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor during last week's by-election campaign.
Shabery promised to improve the constituency's broadband, while Tengku Adnan promised the local Indian community a crematorium and a wedding hall.
Even if the promises don't amount to personal gain, it is still a violation of the election laws, he said.
"During the election campaign, the objective for such promises is to ensure the candidate wins," he said.
"We have brought up such cases to Election Commission (EC) on many occasions, we argued this is illegal. But the EC said this is a grey area," he said.
When asked about his colleagues' behaviour Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein meanwhile quipped, "Well, if people think this is not proper and they have enough facts, let's bring this to the court."
Canvassing support at government events
Hishammuddin himself has also promised to 'help' Mah saying they are comrades for two decades.
"The issue is about the voters, the voters are actually mature enough to decide who is going to bring development to this area," he said at a press conference after campaigning for Mah at Kg Padang Tembak yesterday.
Hishammuddin has been campaigning for his long time friend at Kg Padang Tembak, a district with 2,140 constituents.
Instead of meeting the voters door to door or in public venues, the defence minister has been canvassing support at events organised by government agencies.
He attended a community college programme held by the Ministry of Education, and a gotong royong and community work programmes by the Territorial Army and National Services trainees respectively, where he urged those present to support Mah.
A journalist and a territorial army present both confirmed that Hishammuddin was urging voters to support Mah at the events.
The minister himself tweeted, "Together with Wataniah (Territorial Army), we are rebuilding Mr Khairy's house which was lost to fire."
Mafrel said such acts of using undue influence of one's position to influence voters is abuse of power.
Mafrel is currently on the ground to monitor the by election in Teluk Intan for compliance with election rules.
The Election Offences Act 1954 states clearly that a person involved in certain activities that may influence voters is guilty of vote buying and bribery, said its president Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh.
He was responding to the promises made by Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek and Federal Territory Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor during last week's by-election campaign.
Shabery promised to improve the constituency's broadband, while Tengku Adnan promised the local Indian community a crematorium and a wedding hall.
Even if the promises don't amount to personal gain, it is still a violation of the election laws, he said.
"During the election campaign, the objective for such promises is to ensure the candidate wins," he said.
"We have brought up such cases to Election Commission (EC) on many occasions, we argued this is illegal. But the EC said this is a grey area," he said.
When asked about his colleagues' behaviour Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein meanwhile quipped, "Well, if people think this is not proper and they have enough facts, let's bring this to the court."
Canvassing support at government events
Hishammuddin himself has also promised to 'help' Mah saying they are comrades for two decades.
"The issue is about the voters, the voters are actually mature enough to decide who is going to bring development to this area," he said at a press conference after campaigning for Mah at Kg Padang Tembak yesterday.
Hishammuddin has been campaigning for his long time friend at Kg Padang Tembak, a district with 2,140 constituents.
Instead of meeting the voters door to door or in public venues, the defence minister has been canvassing support at events organised by government agencies.
He attended a community college programme held by the Ministry of Education, and a gotong royong and community work programmes by the Territorial Army and National Services trainees respectively, where he urged those present to support Mah.
A journalist and a territorial army present both confirmed that Hishammuddin was urging voters to support Mah at the events.
The minister himself tweeted, "Together with Wataniah (Territorial Army), we are rebuilding Mr Khairy's house which was lost to fire."
Mafrel said such acts of using undue influence of one's position to influence voters is abuse of power.
Mafrel is currently on the ground to monitor the by election in Teluk Intan for compliance with election rules.
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