JOHOR BARU: Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) has criticised the alleged use of government agencies to support certain parties' campaigns in the ongoing state election.
Party leader Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli also expressed concern over lavish, high-cost election campaigns, saying they were inconsistent with the government's commitment to combating corruption and wastage.
"Bersama has raised two issues concerning the conduct of the Johor election campaign involving candidates from Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional.
"First is the organisation of large-scale campaign events, which involve substantial costs.
"Second is campaign programmes organised by government agencies at both the Federal and state levels involving members of the administration and candidates from parties in government," he said at a press conference at the Bersama command centre in Taman Sri Tebrau here on Tuesday (June 30).
Rafizi said such practices, which would have attracted widespread criticism in the past, are now being normalised.
"Over the years, especially lately, I have noticed that the public has become less sensitive to these issues. They have become normalised.
"Previously, when Pakatan Harapan was the opposition heading into the 2018 general election, the use of government assets for political campaigns was a very sensitive issue.
"However, in recent times, even before nomination day and during the first few days of the campaign, we have observed that it has become common for government agencies to organise programmes attended by ministers and election candidates," he said.
He said such practices were especially concerning as the government was implementing cost-cutting measures.
"The Federal government is currently facing a heavy fuel subsidy burden, to the extent that it has announced cost-cutting measures by reducing allocations to various ministries.
"The government is facing financial constraints, and these cuts have already been made. Yet, we are now seeing government agencies appearing at campaign events for election candidates," he said.
Meanwhile, Rafizi announced that Bersama would introduce a new campaign approach by allowing voters to invite the party's candidates directly to their homes or premises for face-to-face engagements through the party's website.
"Bersama believes this approach can gradually help clean up election campaigns by reducing the need for excessive spending and questionable sources of political funding," he said.
He said voters, including associations and community groups, could submit invitations through the party's official website.
