Confusion as deputy speaker says police won’t enforce new campaigning rules

TG PIAI POLLS | PARLIAMENT | There appears to be confusion over new rules on walkabouts and door-to-door campaigning permits at Tanjung Piai, with Dewan Rakyat being told that police will not be enforcing them, despite being earlier told that that they were.

Deputy Speaker Nga Kor Ming (above) made the assertion today when rejecting an emergency motion by Noh Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang) to debate new rules by the police.

However, this appeared to contradict recent statements by the police as well as the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong over the past two days.

This came after Noh's statement in Dewan Rakyat today that as house-to-house campaigning was not listed in the Election Offence Act 1954, it should constitute a “private arrangement” between the homeowner and campaigning agent.

He said as such, the Election Commission (EC) had no authority to prohibit such actions.

To this, Nga said Noh’s motion was rejected as it did not comply with house regulations and was “factually inaccurate” as the instruction had been issued by police, not EC.

Noh (above) then suggested that Nga could well be the party who was misinformed and called on Nga to guarantee police would not be enforcing this ruling in the ongoing Tanjung Piai by-election period.

“If you dare announce police would withdraw (the rules) and won’t be enforcing it, we agree (to withdraw the motion),” he said.

It was at this point that Nga made the assertion, attributing it to the Home Ministry despite acknowledging he had no authority to make such a guarantee.

“Speaker cannot misuse his authority. As deputy speaker, I cannot issue instructions to the police, only the Home Affairs Ministry.

“And the Home Affairs Ministry has responded that police will not enforce the rules...so the issue (on debating the permit stipulations) does not arise,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The issue came to the fore after a reminder was issued by the EC last Tuesday, which has since been criticised by lawmakers from both sides of the divide.

It is unclear, however, where Nga obtained this information as police, as of yesterday, have stood by the new set of rules.

This required contesting parties to first apply for permits before commencing on walkabout and door-to-door stops, as both are also considered forms of campaigning.

Johor police chief Mohd Kamarudin Md Din (above) yesterday said this was to avoid confrontations that could threaten public order.

Although Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, too, called on police to ease on the “rigid” conditions, he stopped short of issuing any order as he reportedly said he did not wish to misuse his position as the home minister.

Even de facto law minister Liew had earlier today informed the august house that police had already advised and repeatedly reminded all contesting parties of the new stipulation on the first day of campaigning, following nomination on Nov 2.

In fact, he said since day one, 42 permits for house-to-house campaigning have already been approved by police.

Referring to Liew’s statement, Noh, in a press conference at the Parliament lobby later, said that the speaker had sent him a letter detailing why his motion was rejected.

“We were informed just now (by the speaker) that the police will not enforce this rule.

“This is an official letter and we hope this answer from the speaker (Mohamad Ariff Yusof) that police will not enforce the rule shows that the minister’s answer in the Dewan was very confusing,” Noh told reporters.

Malaysiakini is contacting the police for a response. - Mkini