ROMPIN, April 26 – Seven political ‘ceramah’ (political talks) by the two contesting political parties at the Rompin parliamentary by-election were held without permits between Wednesday and yesterday. Rompin Parliamentary By-election Media Centre chief, Supt Abdul Aziz Mahmud said both the parties had flouted Section 24b(3) of the Election Offences 1954. The police only approved five permits for ceramah during the period, he said in a statement here Sunday.
“From our monitoring, we found 12 ceramah were held. This showed that seven ceramah were carried out without permit and the parties contesting have flouted Section 24b(3) of the Election Offences 1954. “The penalty upon conviction is not more than a year’s jail, or fine not more than RM3,000, or both,” added Abdul Aziz. Prior to this, the police had reminded the contesting political parties to seek a permit before holding a ceramah.
The Rompin by-election will see Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Hasan Arifin facing PAS candidate Nazri Ahmad for the Rompin parliamentary seat, following the death of incumbent Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis in a helicopter crash in Semenyih, Selangor on April 4. A total of 53,294 voters in the Bukit Ibam (19,561), Muadzam Shah (17,394) and Tioman (16,339) areas will vote on polling day on May 5.
