Don’t talk like Trump about election fraud, Muhyiddin told

 

Bersih said Muhyiddin Yassin’s claims are similar to those used by former US president Donald Trump, which have destabilised American politics.

PETALING JAYA: Bersih has urged Muhyiddin Yassin to take his “wild allegations” that there has been electoral fraud in the recently concluded polls to court.

Bersih chief Thomas Fann said the allegations are similar to the false claims used by former US president Donald Trump, which went on to divide and destabilise American politics.

“Such false claims might play on the Malaysian psyche and sow distrust in the electoral system here.

“If Muhyiddin truly believes that there has been wide-scale fraud, he should go to court instead of making unsubstantiated statements. It is time for him to concede and accept the GE15 result and move on to play the check and balance role of the opposition,” he told FMT.

On Thursday, Muhyiddin labelled the coalition government formed by Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional as “the biggest electoral fraud ever”.

Repeated claims of election fraud have been made by Trump and his allies after his failed presidential re-election campaign in 2020. His claims have led to a growing number of election deniers, described by US president Joe Biden as the biggest threat to the country’s democracy.

Fann said electoral fraud is an illegal attempt to change the outcome of an election on a massive scale involving thousands or millions of votes.

Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Farouk of Universiti Sains Malaysia said Muhyiddin’s statement was inaccurate and misleading.

“Electoral fraud has a different meaning altogether, which includes ballot stuffing and other illegal means to win an election.

“What I think that is being conveyed is that the campaign promises by both Umno and PKR were misleading,” he said.

Azeem said such misleading statements could have arisen from misunderstanding the dynamics of the present ruling government.

He said PH and BN were forced to work together as none of the three major coalitions had a parliamentary majority

Azeem said it is however undeniable that Umno chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had tried to hatch a cooperation plan between Umno and PKR before GE15.

“The no Anwar, no DAP, no Bersatu vow made earlier by Zahid was a tactical move. He knew that BN would not be able to form the government on its own. Whatever that is worth, both parties were not truthful to their members and voters. It is public knowledge they were trying to hatch something,” he said. - FMT