Local youths light candles during a previous Bersih rally. File photo by Russell Ting
KUCHING: The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) is now worried that Pakatan Harapan (PH) was going the way of the Barisan Nasional (BN), the very coalition which PH toppled on May 9 last year.
The bone of contention was that Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had used former chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s election campaign catchphrase “You help me, I help you” when he (Lim) campaigned for DAP candidate Vivian Wong in Sandakan pursuant to the May 11 parliamentary by-election.
In a press statement today, Bersih referred to various media reports that said during a campaign speech in Sandakan, Lim had said that if Wong were to be elected, she could remind him to include a parking project in the next budget but if she is not elected, then it “could not be helped”.
“If the media reports are accurate, then it is reminiscent of former PM Najib Razak’s infamous speech in 2010 in the Sibu and Hulu Selangor by-elections, where he said, ‘You help me, I help you;’, urging the crowd to vote for the BN candidate if they want him to give allocations for a new bridge in Sibu and a new school on Hulu Selangor. He was widely condemned by the then Opposition for bribing the voters,” the statement read.
“If Lim is not the Finance Minister and had made such a promise to deliver extra allocation to resolve the car parking problem at the Duchess of Kent Hospital, then he would just be a politician making empty promises. But Lim is the Finance Minister and it is within his power to grant that extra allocation if there is a genuine need, and indeed it is his duty to do so regardless of which party the candidate or MP is from,” it added.
Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin and Wong had both said that Lim’s speech was taken out of context, but Berish wants to call on Lim to clarify what he meant.
“We would urge him to give his assurance that he will help resolve the car park issue even if Wong didn’t get elected because he is the Finance Minister for all Malaysians, regardless of political affiliation,” Bersih argued.
“Voters must be free to make their choices without any pressure, which is why they are considered election offences. Again, we call on Lim to come clean on this and if indeed he had utter such a statement, to immediately apologize to the voters of Sandakan and pledge to serve them and the MP they elect on Polling Day.”
The Sandakan parliamentary by-election in Sabah on May 11 was called by the Election Commission following the death of two-term incumbent MP Stephen Wong Tien Fatt of the DAP.
Vivian, the deceased’s youngest daughter, will be facing Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) candidate Datuk Linda Tsen Thau Lin and several independent candidates, namely Chia Siew Yung, Hamzah Abdullah and Sulaiman Abdul Samad.