'PAS can't afford to pay voters like in the video' - Sanusi

PAS election director Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor denied that his party gave money to voters during the 15th general election, as alleged in viral videos and posts on social media.

He said this is just a ploy by rivals to smear PAS, adding that the Islamic party does not have the funds to pay voters anyway.

“PAS does not have the funds to give to people like that.

“In the election, there were so many campaigns by our opponents to smear PAS.

“I believe these viral videos are made up by our political opponents… it just doesn’t make sense.

“(Paying voters) is an election offence, so it would be risky (for PAS) to do so in the open and have it recorded,” he told Malaysiakini last night.

One such video shows people waiting in front of a building to purportedly collect payment from PAS for voting.

Twitter user @LagaCawan, uploaded the video on Nov 20, the day after polling day.

In the replies, other social media users alleged the crowd was waiting for reimbursement promised by PAS for outstation voters.

Voices heard complaining in the video had an East Coast accent.

However, others note this was a video of i-Belia cash aid disbursement for youths by the Terengganu government before polling day.

This is likely to be the case as the footage also showed the presence of police officers.

Another part of the video showed an individual with indelible ink on her finger, with the caption “RM100 je, haritu kata RM350” (Only RM100, the other day they promised RM350), indicating it happened on or after polling day.

However, the video of the hand holding the RM100 bill could have also been spliced with the crowd footage to make it appear like it is the same event.

The video was first uploaded on TikTok but has since gone viral on other platforms. However, the user who uploaded the video has deleted their TikTok account.

Circulated by Harapan-aligned accounts

On Facebook, some users also uploaded photos of cash in “duit raya” envelopes featuring PAS logos, but it cannot be determined if the cash was payment to voters.

This is because such envelopes are commonly distributed by political parties to supporters for use during Hari Raya.

Meanwhile, a separate video was uploaded on TikTok by user @fawwazjohari showing a tent with a PAS banner promoting an election candidate in Kelantan.

The video, which had no original audio, showed a man taking cash from his pocket and handing it to someone who was waiting while taking another slip of paper from another person.

The narrator implied that the money was for voting PAS, but this is not clear from the video as the exchange could be between party workers.

For example, it is common for locals to be hired on a cash basis to put up campaign material.

The TikTok user is seen to be aligned with Pakatan Harapan as the coalition’s logo is featured as the profile picture.

The video is no longer on @fawwazjohari’s TikTok page but has been re-uploaded on the platform and on other social media by Harapan-aligned accounts.

The Perikatan Nasional coalition, of which PAS is a component party, won 73 parliamentary seats in the election, while Harapan won 82, followed by BN’s 30 seats. The rest were won by East Malaysian parties and independent candidates.

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