CAMERON HIGHLANDS (Jan 15): The police has issued 10 ceramah permits to Pakatan Harapan (PH) and five to Barisan Nasional (BN) for the first three days of the upcoming parliamentary by-election campaign trail, said Cameron Highlands police chief Deputy Superintendent Ashari Abu Samah.

"The ceramah permit can be obtained from us or our counterpart at the Kuala Lipis police station by the candidates [themselves] or [their] agents, as provided under Section 24B(3) of Election Offences Act 1954," Ashari said in a statement today.

At the same time, Ashari said the police have received eight reports on election offences but no further investigations have been carried out.

Earlier today, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said election offences related to money politics and any elements of corruption fall under the jurisdiction of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, while the police will deal with security and public order matters.

To this, Ashari said: "In the first three days of the election campaign trail, there have been no untoward incidents reported in Cameron Highlands and Kuala Lipis."

"The police thanked all the political parties involved so far as they have been obeying our advice and following the rules stipulated under Election Offences Act in the first three days of the campaigning period," he added.

Last year, the Election Court had annulled and vacated the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat after elements of bribery and corruption were found.

The Cameron Highlands seat comprises two state assembly constituencies — Tanah Rata and Jelai.

According to the latest data from the Election Commission, there are 32,009 registered voters in Cameron Highlands, 19,524 of which are in Tanah Rata and 12,485 are in Jelai.

To be held on Saturday (Jan 26), the upcoming Cameron Highlands by-election will see a four-corner fight among PH, BN and two independent candidates.