‘Let MACC and EC decide on cash handout’
CAMERON HIGHLANDS: The cash handout fiasco should be left to the authorities to investigate, says Pakatan Harapan Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
He said the Election Commission (EC) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) were more than capable of probing the matter.
“I will leave it to the MACC and EC to investigate. The EC is now an independent body and is headed by Azhar Azizan Harun, who is vocal and outspoken towards both sides (Pakatan and Barisan Nasional).
“The same EC chief also appealed on behalf of Umno on the Rantau state assembly seat,” he said after a town hall session with Cameron Highlands youth yesterday.
Syed Saddiq, who is also Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Youth chief, said the MACC, which used to answer to the Prime Minister’s Department, was now an independent entity under parliament.
“They (EC and MACC) are the best judges of this matter. They will act fairly to both sides,” he said when asked to comment on the cash handout issue, in which a woman wearing a Pakatan T-shirt was photographed distributing cash to party supporters.
Barisan has cried foul over the matter and several police reports have been lodged, urging the auth- orities to probe Pakatan for votebuying.
Pakatan has clarified that the woman was handing out petrol reimbursements to party volunteers, adding that everything was done according to the law and would be declared as election expenses.
Syed Saddiq also said he had come up to Cameron Highlands as Pakatan Youth chief and not in his capacity as a minister.
And to show that he was not abusing government machinery, the Youth and Sports Minister drove his personal car – a Honda City.
Syed Saddiq’s one-day campaign trail took him to an orang asli village as well as a Felda settlement in Sungai Koyan, where he was joined by Pakatan candidate M. Manogaran.