KAJANG: Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo hopes that social media users will be more responsible particularly in sharing information in their account during the ongoing by-election campaign for the Semenyih state constituency.
He said they should ensure that the information to be shared were valid and not to be hasty in sharing the information without carrying out research beforehand.
“Inaccurate information could lead to a negative situation, and we too do not want any candidate to receive undesired results caused by slanders in the social media, we have to be careful,” he told reporters when approached after the nomination of candidates for the Semenyih by-election at the Seri Cempaka Hall, Kajang Municipal Council here today.
The by-election will see a four-cornered fight between the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate, Muhammad Aiman Zainali, Zakaria Hanafi from Barisan Nasional (BN); Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and an Independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng.
It is being held following the death of the incumbent, Bakhtiar Mohd Nor from Bersatu who represented PH on Jan 11 after suffering a heart attack.
Early voting for the Semenyih state constituency seat has been fixed for Feb 26 while polling will be on March 2.
Meanwhile, PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali reminded all members and leaders of political parties to stay away totally from playing up racial and religious issues that could break up solidarity and jeopardise public peace especially in Selangor.
He hoped that the by-election campaign that began today would proceed smoothly until polling day by focusing on issues concerning the people and regional development.
“All this while, Selangor under the PH administration had succeeded to forge a strong unity among the people and we do not want any narrow-minded group to destroy it by playing up unnecessary issues.
“We also hope the people would continue to give their trust and support to PH, as they did in the three other by-elections (in Selangor) namely in Sungai Kandis, Seri Setia and Balakong,” he said.
Mohamed Azmin also praised the political party supporters around the nomination centre today for being courteous and respectful of the regulations set by the authorities and hoped that the same attitude would be maintained during the campaign period.
As for BN deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, although he realised that the outcome of the by-election for the Semenyih state seat would not change the structure of the government, it was still important for them to ensure that the voice of the people was heard.
He said PAS would also campaign with the BN in the Semenyih by-election to forge closer relations between the two parties and unify the ummah (people).
The BN by-election director for Semenyih Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob placed strong confidence that the party would have a strong possibility of winning. – Bernama