Bersih chides Maszlee over policy for opposition school visits

Education Minister Maszlee Malik says the requirement for opposition MPs to get approval before visiting schools in their constituencies is based on a circular issued by his ministry.

PETALING JAYA: Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 today urged Education Minister Maszlee Malik to revoke the requirement for opposition MPs to obtain approval from state education authorities before visiting schools in their constituencies.

In a statement, it said any policies on the matter should apply to all politicians regardless of their affiliation.

“We do not question the right of the education ministry to impose policies or provide guidelines to protect schools from negative influences, but we do question the partisan implementation of policies,” it said.

Maszlee had said that the requirement was based on a circular issued by his ministry.

When asked about the same issue being raised when Pakatan Harapan was still the opposition, he said being barred from schools was different from having to apply for permission.

Under the previous government, opposition representatives were not allowed to visit schools.

Bersih said discriminating against opposition MPs who had been elected through the democratic process was tantamount to disrespecting the will of voters.

“In a multi-party democracy, voters have the right to choose from various contending parties and they should not be deprived of the service of their representatives if they turn out to be on the opposition bench after the election.

“A frequent complaint of the opposition representatives during Barisan Nasional’s (BN) rule was the fact that they were not allowed to enter public schools while BN representatives were allowed. Is the new Pakatan Harapan government doing to the opposition what they themselves objected to when they were in opposition?” - FMT