JOHOR BARU: With campaigning for the Johor state election coming to a close today, the police commended candidates and supporters for helping to keep the campaign largely peaceful and incident-free.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said police received reports involving damage to campaign materials such as billboards, banners and flags.
“We have not recorded any incidents that threatened public safety or involved damage to public property during the campaigning period. The peaceful atmosphere reflected the political maturity of Johor voters,” he said when contacted yesterday.
He said the police had received 73 reports related to the election campaign since nomination day on June 27, and that 22 investigation papers had been opened involving alleged election offences.
During the same period, police received 4,368 permit applications for political events and approved 4,053 of them.
Comm Ab Rahaman said all political programmes and campaign activities were monitored by the police to ensure organisers complied with the law and maintained public order and security.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) reported no major election offences during the campaigning period.
An EC official, who declined to be named, said the commission received 588 election-related complaints but recorded no major offences.
Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi also said the campaign had progressed smoothly and hoped the positive atmosphere would continue through polling day.
MCA secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon described the election campaign as peaceful, with candidates and parties generally exercising restraint.
“So far, this has been a more mature campaign. Everyone has been more rational and restrained. We have not seen too many unpleasant or excessive incidents like in 2018,” he said.
However, Chong said Barisan Nasional is concerned over certain campaign materials and claims made during the election period.
He added that MCA had lodged a complaint with the EC against irresponsible people for several advertisements it believed were unfair to the party.
“They even took out full-page advertisements. We have lodged a complaint with the EC, but until today, we have not received a report,” he said.
Chong said Barisan’s campaign was centred on the Johor government’s track record under Onn Hafiz, urging voters to judge political parties based on their policies, performance and ability to govern.
He said the coalition is banking on its good track record and its plans to continue Johor’s development agenda to win over the voters.
State Pakatan Harapan chairman Aminolhuda Hassan said the two-week campaign had been largely peaceful.
“Our Johor way is that we are not rough. Except for some harsh words used, there were no incidents which resulted in fights,” he said, adding that people were mature and did not resort to violence.
Johor PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed also said the campaign was smooth and orderly, with no major issues reported by the party.
Parti Bersama Malaysia leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad also said the party had not encountered any untoward incidents in the 15 state seats it was contesting.
“Although there were times when supporters honked or shouted as they passed our ceramah, that is part of campaigning.
“Overall, we have not encountered hostility,” he said, adding that voters had generally been approachable and willing to listen to the party’s message.
