Tear gas fired in Tenom after KDM supporters storm centre

 

A screenshot from a video clip which showed that a tear gas canister had been launched into a crowd of KDM supporters.

TENOM: Tear gas was fired as a crowd became unruly at the nomination centre for the Tenom parliamentary seat today after election officials rejected the nomination of Peter Anthony, president of Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat.

A widely-shared video clip on social media showed that tear gas had been fired into a crowd carrying flags bearing the party’s logo.

Sabah police commissioner Idris Abdullah said the Election Commission had rejected Anthony’s papers on the ground that he has an unresolved court case.

“Due to dissatisfaction, some 300 of his supporters tried to storm the hall … security personnel took action to disperse the supporters and prevent them from entering the hall,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

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No one had been arrested so far in connection with the incident which happened at 11.30am at Dewan DSP Antanom here. Police restored order at 2.38pm.

“A meeting was held between lawyers representing Peter, EC officials and police to ask the supporters not to be unruly. At 12.32pm, Peter emerged from the hall and asked his supporters to accept the EC’s decision,” he told a news conference here.

Idris said Anthony subsequently lodged a report at the Tenom police station over the rejection of his nomination and would be taking follow-up action.

Police have advised the public to remain calm and not to get emotional over the incident.

A video of the incident has gone viral on social media, showing security forces using tear gas in an attempt to control the unruly crowd outside the nomination centre.

Anthony later said he would file for a judicial review regarding the rejection of his nomination papers. - FMT