Johor polls: Police investigate political party flag burning incidents

JOHOR BAHRU: Police are investigating incidents of burning and throwing away flags of political parties contesting the Johor state election, in the Layang-Layang state constituency in Kluang, today.

Johor police chief, Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat, said so far they had found three political party flags that had been burned and thrown away during regular patrols conducted in the state constituency this morning.

"This morning, as the police conducted regular patrols (in the Layang-Layang state constituency), they found several flags (of political parties); three flags were burned and discarded.

"Police will conduct a thorough investigation to identify the mastermind behind the incidents, including calling representatives of political parties to assist in the investigation," he told reporters, after visiting several Johor polls campaign locations of contesting candidates around Johor Bahru, today.

He also advised all political parties contesting the Johor polls, as well as their supporters, to campaign maturely and avoid being too emotional as it could lead to fights.

The Layang-Layang state seat will witness a four-cornered contest between Dr Maszlee Malik (PKR), Alagathiran Krishnan (PN-Bersatu), Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim (BN-UMNO) and Ahmad Shafiq Othaman (Pejuang).

Kamarul Zaman reminded all parties involved in the Johor polls to continue to abide by the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the authorities to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"If the rules stipulate that the campaign should end at 10 pm, just end it, there is no need to apply for an extension. Compliance with the SOPs is not something that is too difficult to do. If people are still stubborn then we will take action; it is easy," he said.

Meanwhile, Johor police contingent headquarters' polls spokesperson, Supt Ibrahim Mat Som, in a statement, said that the police had opened three investigation papers involving the Johor state election from Saturday to yesterday.

He said that two cases were being investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code or Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, while another case was being investigated under Section 269 of the Penal Code or Rule 16 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2021.

He said that a total of 53 ceramah (political talks) permits have been approved throughout Johor.

The Election Commission (EC) has set March 12 as the Johor poll polling day, with early voting on March 8.

-- BERNAMA