The coalition will be submitting the candidates’ details to various agencies for background checks

by ANIS HAZIM / pic BERNAMA

PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) would not nominate candidates that are involved in court cases for the 15th General Election (GE15), according to PN secretary general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (picture).

Hamzah said the coalition will be doing a thorough vetting in choosing its candidates to ensure its candidates have clean records.

“In our stance, anyone who has already been dragged to the court, for example — will be barred from running as a PN candidate,” he told reporters after launching the National Forensic Science Symposium for Law Enforcement today.

He said the coalition is currently working with several agencies including the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) to cross-check the backgrounds of every candidate.

“We want candidates who are really ‘clean’. So, we have already taken the information (the candidates) and we will submit it to several agencies to check their backgrounds.

“This is not only related to the problems in court or crime, but we will also check their background with LHDN and several other agencies to ensure our candidates are ‘clean’,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hamzah has rejected Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s suggestion of prime minister (PM) candidates from the three main coalitions, namely Pakatan Harapan, PN and Barisan Nasional (BN) to debate with each other ahead of polling day.

“We must understand that this country is unique — we have many races, ethnicities, so let us do it well, not blaming anyone or causing any racial issues that can damage the people’s thinking — so not by doing debate,” he added.

Last week, Anwar proposed for a debate focusing on policy-related matters and not having insults and accusations take centre stage in their electoral campaigns.

However, BN’s PM candidate Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has also turned down the proposal as he was quoted saying that debate is not “our culture”.

On a separate matter, Hamzah who is also the caretaker home minister assured that the ministry together with the Royal Malaysia Police are well-prepared ahead of polling day on Nov 19.

“I will discuss with the Inspector-General of Police, maybe we have to prepare with enough tools, as I’m worried that during the election, there will be a lot of problems and issues like slander which is possible to happen,” he said.