PETALING JAYA: Bersama leader Lee Chean Chung has urged the Election Commission and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to look into transport minister Loke Siew Fook’s announcement that Melaka taxi drivers will receive aid of RM1,000 each ahead of the state election.
In a statement today, the former Petaling Jaya MP asked why the aid was limited to taxi drivers in Melaka rather than extended to their counterparts nationwide.
Lee also asked why the announcement was made at a Pakatan Harapan ceramah instead of through the transport ministry’s official channels, describing it as one of the "clearest examples" of pre-election cash handouts.
"The fight against corruption has long been one of the main principles DAP invoked when criticising Barisan Nasional’s practice of handing out inducements before elections over the decades.
"The principle repeatedly emphasised was that government resources must be clearly separated from the interests of political parties.
"Yet today, that distinction appears to have been erased by DAP’s own secretary-general. The anti-corruption image and moral standing that DAP spent decades building have been destroyed in an instant."
He said even if Loke's announcement did not violate the Election Offences Act 1954, it raised concerns about the separation of government resources from party interests ahead of the Nov 14 Melaka election.
Loke announced the RM1,000 assistance at PH’s candidate introduction event in Melaka last Saturday, saying the payments would be funded through proceeds from the sale of special “H” vehicle registration numbers which raised RM91 million.
In his statement, Lee said revenue from vehicle registration number bids belongs to the public and should be channelled into the Consolidated Fund before being spent through allocations approved by Parliament.