A Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate has condemned the burning of campaign flags belonging to parties and candidates contesting the Johor election, describing the act as unethical and damaging to the country’s democratic process.
BN candidate for Tanjung Surat, Aznan Tamin said the incident involving a Pakatan Harapan (PH) campaign flag in the constituency does not benefit any party and only contributes to a negative and unhealthy election atmosphere.
“So far, I have not received any information on who was responsible for burning the flag. To me, it is not something good because it reflects an unhealthy contest.
“As far as BN in Tanjung Surat is concerned, we do not engage in such activities and we are focused on introducing our candidate and carrying out community engagement programmes,” he said after attending a community programme at Felda Sening.
He added that the case appears to be an isolated incident, noting that only one flag was reported burnt and the identity of the perpetrators remains unknown.
The incident was previously reported after a representative of the PH candidate for Tanjung Surat lodged a police report, claiming that one of the coalition’s campaign flags placed at the entrance of Felda Adela was set on fire by unknown individuals. The burnt flag was discovered around 2am on Sunday.
PH candidate Faizul Abdul Ghani reportedly said the discovery was made by his logistics team leader.
Commenting on BN’s cooperation with PH at federal level, Aznan said the public should not be confused as the unity government was formed following a decree by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to ensure a stable administration, and not as a pre-election alliance.
He explained that although the parties are now working together in government, that arrangement did not stem from any electoral pact ahead of the Johor polls.
“The cooperation came about following the decree of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to facilitate the formation of the government, not because of an electoral alliance.
“People need to understand this. We came together because no single party had enough seats to form the government alone. The priority was to uphold the country’s constitutional stability,” he said.
Aznan added that in the current Johor election, each party is contesting independently, with Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi previously stating that BN will contest without cooperating with any other party at state level.
