Bingkor rep denies vote-buying on Sabah polling day

 

Bingkor assemblyperson Robert Tawik has denied distributing cash handouts to voters on polling day during last month’s Sabah election.

Earlier this week, Bersih said its election observers had documented a long queue of voters outside Tawik’s (photo, above) office on Sept 26.

In its report to the Election Commission (EC) on the election, the voter rights NGO suspected that cash handouts had been distributed and classified the instance as a “corruption and vote-buying” offence.

When contacted, Tawik said that his Jalan Bingkor Bypass office was closed on polling day.

“I don’t know why people were lining up that day.

“I was busy that day visiting other areas. Our office was closed and did not operate that day,” he said.

When showed Bersih’s photograph of the queue, the Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) vice-president again denied involvement and said the crowd had gathered outside a shop beneath his first-floor office.

“There is no office downstairs. That is someone else’s shop,” he explained, adding that none of his officers had been at the shop that day.

“Not true, not true,” Tawik stressed when asked about allegations that his office had engaged in vote-buying.

Tawik won the Bingkor state seat in GE14 and defended it in a six-corner fight in the recent snap election, garnering a 5,070 majority in the 17,828-voter seat.

Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) - comprising PBS, BN and Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Bersatu and Star - was elected as the new state government.

In its report, Bersih also documented how PN election workers had distributed EC envelopes containing voter cards and “slips” with the PN logo to voters outside a polling booth in Bingkor.

The NGO suspected that corruption or vote-buying was involved. It also questioned if the commission had endorsed PN in Bingkor.

The EC has yet to respond to requests for comment.  - Mkini