PONTIAN: The new Election Commission (EC) ruling that requires political parties to obtain police permits for their walkabouts will not slow down campaigning, says Pakatan Harapan candidate Karmaine Sardini (pic).
Karmaine said although the new ruling came as a shock, it did not stop Pakatan from intensifying its campaign in the last few days before polling day.
“We were shocked when we found out about the new ruling as there were no such thing before but it did not affect us too much.
“We can still go for our walkabout and go door-to-door as long as we notify the police first and fill in the necessary application documents,” he said when met at Kampung Rimba Terjun here.
He added that it did not take too long for the authorities to approve the permit and this allowed the party to continue the campaign trail.
It was earlier reported that all parties and candidates contesting in the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election have been reminded that a police permit was required for house-to-house campaigning.
EC chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun said walkabouts were also considered to be mobile campaigning and added that such activities must have a clear time frame and location for monitoring purposes. -The Star