Bersih said the Act must be urgently implemented in the wake of the allegations against PAS for vote buying.

“Bersih reiterates that the giving of cash handouts or anything valuable during elections is bribery.

“Eradicating this malady requires not only the consistent enforcement of the Election Offences Act 1954 but also the enactment of a Political Financing Act and the setting up of a permanent parliamentary committee to scrutinise the election system and process,” it said in a statement today.

It also proposed that a permanent committee on electoral matters and multiparty democracy be set up at the parliamentary sitting next month to review and open the Political Financing Act for public feedback.

On Saturday, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang defended the cash handouts in three Terengganu constituencies several days before the last general election (GE15) after his party was accused of vote buying.

In response to petitions filed by Terengganu Umno to nullify the election results in the three constituencies, Hadi said those caught on video handing cash to voters were merely doing charity work.

The Marang MP said election laws stipulated that only candidates and their agents were barred from giving cash handouts.

However, Bersih said it did not matter if the act was done directly by a candidate or through a third party as the Election Offences Act stated that any cash or anything valuable given to voters during an election period to influence a person to vote for, or refrain from voting, was a form of corruption and bribery.

“While the law clearly states that this is an offence, the authorities, be it the police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, need to investigate and the attorney-general as the public prosecutor needs to charge the people involved for the courts to pass judgment,” it said.

Bersih said Hadi’s remarks were an admission that cash was given out during GE15, and that the courts should be given the opportunity to give their interpretation on the matter.