Make GE14 the cleanest, most peaceful — Zahid
GEORGE TOWN: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi wants the 14th General Election (GE14) to be the cleanest and most peaceful that is ever held.
He said to ensure a peaceful situation throughout GE14, the Royal Malaysia Police were directed to focus on the flash points and hotspot areas that had been identified nationwide.
“The police intends that despite being identified as flash points and hotspots areas, we don’t want any chaos to happen. We ask that there be no disagreements or chaos that create an unsafe situation in these areas,” he told a media conference yesterday.
Earlier Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, visited the Penang Police Contingent headquarters here.
He also reminded the police not to favour any party and act professionally in carrying out their duties in accordance with the established standard operating procedures (SOP).
“Overall, PDRM have been ready to make sure all the phases of preparedness are fully adhered to in ensuring public security and peace,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid said the key point of concern was that the general security of the people was assured and, hence, he appealed to all parties to cooperate by not creating any provocation.
Asked if the police were focusing on any state, he said there was no particular focus on certain states but all actions were based on intelligence reports received and the previous general election.
“All states, regardless of the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration or opposition will be given the same attention based on flash points. BN controlled states also have flash points,” he said.
Meanwhile Ahmad Zahid called on all parties to respect the logo used by parties contesting in the GE14 and to not damage or take down the party flags throughout the campaign period.
“If there are parties who change their symbol to one symbol for common use or if the party cannot use the symbol of the party concerned but use the same symbol we should respect it.
“I do not want incidents of tearing down or damaging any party flags. We hope the party machinery will monitor and the police will help to ensure such incidents will not happen in any places,” he said.
Earlier when addressing the event, Ahmad Zahid assured that the PDRM would act professionally in accordance with the phases of the electoral process to safeguard the security of the people and country.
“Police must implement zero defect. I don’t want any defects. The people expect us and we have to work hard,” he said.
He said even though there were differences in political views, in terms of national security all parties needed to be united.
“”I ask the people to fully trust the PDRM and the Royal Malaysian Armed Forces in carrying out their duties throughout the election,” he added.
He also announced an allocation of RM3 million to upgrade the Penang contingent police headquarters and another RM1 million to all district police headquarters in the state. Bernama