POLICE ISSUE 128 CAMPAIGN PERMITS FOR KINABATANGAN, LAMAG BY-ELECTIONS

KINABATANGAN, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- Police have issued a total of 128 permits for ceramah or political talks and campaign activities for the Kinabatangan parliamentary and Lamag state by-elections as of today.

Kinabatangan district police chief Supt Ravi Duraisamy said the permits were issued to the candidates from Barisan Nasional (BN), Parti Warisan (Warisan) and an independent candidate, contesting in the two by-elections which were called for following the death of the incumbent, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, 66.

“To date, no applications for permits have been rejected and all parties are adhering to the guidelines that have been issued,” he told reporters here today.

Ravi said police had so far received one complaint during the campaign period, which has been referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Election Commission (EC).

Meanwhile, he said a total of 927 personnel from nearby district police headquarters and the Sabah police contingent headquarters will be deployed to help ensure the smooth conduct of the polling process for both by-elections this Saturday, with early voting set for tomorrow.

“I would also like to remind all the candidates, their agents, and supporters to comply with the standard operating procedures issued by the authorities. I do not want any untoward incidents to occur during the period,” he also said.

The Kinabatangan parliamentary by-election would see a three-cornered contest between Mohd Kurniawan Naim Moktar of BN, Datuk Saddi Abdul Rahman of Warisan, and Goldam Hamid (Independent), while the Lamag state seat is a straight fight between Mohd Ismail Ayob (BN) and Mazliwati Abdul Malek (Warisan).

-- BERNAMA