Umno Calls For Bersih Rally To Protest Use Of State Resources In Polls

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KIMANIS POLLS | Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri has nudged Bersih to hold a rally to protest against the use of state resources in the Kimanis by-election
Ismail claimed Bersih would have done so if it was carried out by the previous BN-led ruling coalition
"I thank Bersih for criticising the government for going against the Election Offences Act in Kimanis but it is not enough
"During BN's time, they would don yellow and go to the streets, I am waiting for Bersih to hit the streets in yellow again as in the recent by-elections, it is clear that the (Pakatan Harapan-led) government had violated the Election Offences Act," he told journalists in Kimanis today

He also urged Bersih to lodge a police report over the matter
Earlier, Ismail, who is also the opposition leader, had met with fishermen around Binsulok in Kimanis to hear their problems
BN had complained about government allocation announced ahead of the Kimanis by-election, including RM500,000 to upgrade a jetty. Bersih today had expressed concern at the government promising development in courting support from Kimanis voters
"Bersih is in a view that government parties should compete about policies, performances, and fulfilling manifesto rather than intimidating people to block the development from taking place in the area if it falls to the opposition
"This is clearly an outdated tradition... Warisan-Pakatan Harapan should have led the paradigm shift to make Sabah Ubah and Malaysia Baru meaningful rather than continuing with the BN government's outdated tradition," it said in a statement today. The Kimanis by-election campaign officially began last Saturday and voters will go to the polls on Jan 18
The by-election was called after the Election Court voided the Kimanis election results on grounds that Election Commission (EC) failed to comply with election procedures
Umno's Anifah Aman had won Kimanis with a razor-thin 156-vote majority in the last general election. He garnered 11,942 votes to Warisan's Karim Buang's 11,786 votes
A third party, Harapan Rakyat's Jaafar Ismail, received 1,300 votes
Anifah, who had since quit Umno to become an independent, decided to sit out the current by-election
Umno is represented by Mohamad Alamin in this by-election while Karim is again representing Warisan. - Mkini

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