In a press conference today, the Hang Tuah Jaya MP said the ceramahs were conducted at the Paya Rumput state constituency, with leaders speaking from a modified truck which was fitted with loudspeakers and served as the stage.

The only people who were present were the speakers, party officials, members of the media and police officers, he said.

“Those who listened to the ceramahs were at home, either following the speeches via livestream or from the porches of their homes.

“And the ceramahs were not even that long, lasting about 30 minutes before we moved to a new location,” he said, adding that it was first held at Taman Sri Krubong before they moved to Taman Krubong Jaya.

The compound fine was specifically for the ceramah at Taman Krubong Jaya, but the party was not booked for the one held at Taman Sri Krubong.

Shamsul said PKR had tried to be creative with this mobile “crowdless” ceramah in order to prevent any physical contact and gatherings among members of the public.

He maintained that the fine was unreasonable, urging health minister Khairy Jamaluddin to announce in detail what type of events would be allowed and what would be banned during the election campaigning period.

He said he did not blame the police officer who issued the compound notice to PKR, but said there was much confusion as to what the ban on physical gatherings entailed.

“During the recent US’ presidential election, they conducted drive-through campaign rallies to curb Covid-19. So why can’t we do something similar here?”

Shamsul also said the ceramah yesterday was not campaigning for the state election, which only begins after nomination day, but was an “information programme” to educate voters on issues related to Melaka and Budget 2022.

He added that the party would scrutinise if the compound fine was rightly issued and consider writing to Khairy and home minister Hamzah Zainudin over the matter.

The party might also challenge the compound fine in court, he added.