Don’t get provoked, stick to the rules, says Hasni

The Barisan Nasional election machinery in Johor should not retaliate against any provocation by their political opponents, former mentri besar Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad has urged.

He said all sides contesting in the general election should act with maturity and not get emotional.

“I am sure we are able to control our machinery and not overreact to provocation,” he said when asked about an arson case that saw a Barisan tent being burned in Batu Pahat two days ago. He also urged the police to take action to prevent such incidents from happening.

A police spokesman said a 28-year-old suspect, believed to have been intoxicated, had been arrested.

Besides the arson case, there have also been cases of party flags and banners being vandalised.

Hasni also urged candidates to comply with election rules, adding that they should not enter flood relief centres to campaign.

“If they want to give any assistance, it should be given to the district office to be handed over to the victims,” he said when referring to an incident involving Pakatan Harapan candidate for Simpang Renggam, Dr Maszlee Malik, on Sunday.

Hasni, who is going against Maszlee, added that the Barisan campaign in all 26 parliamentary seats was moving well and he hoped that this would continue until polling day on Nov 19.

When asked about a Merdeka Centre survey that predicted 35% of Malay votes might go to Perikatan Nasional, Hasni said no coalition was in a comfortable position.

“I am sure more people will be doing all sorts of surveys until polling day,” he said, adding that he was closely monitoring Barisan’s performance in all 26 parliamentary seats in Johor.

“We will not allow any of our machinery to take it easy,” he said.