RM123.7 Million Spent For 12th General Election

February 23, 2009 18:03 PM

RM123.7 Million Spent For 12th General Election

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- Some RM123.7 million was spent for the 12th general election held in March last year and another RM989,000 for two parliamentary by-elections held in Penang and Terengganu after that, the Dewan Rakyat was told Monday.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the two by-elections were for the Permatang Pauh seat in Penang and the Kuala Terengganu seat in Terengganu.

The Permatang Pauh by-election, held in August last year, incurred cost of RM409,000, while the by-election for the Kuala Terengganu seat in January this year involved expenditure of RM580,000," he said in response to a question by Azan Ismail (PKR-Indera Mahkota) who wanted to know the government's expenditure for the elections concerned.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Nazri said the Election Commission monitored expenses only of candidates contesting in the elections, where they were not allowed to spend more than RM200,000 each.

"Indeed, under the Election Offences Act, candidates are not allowed to spend more than RM200,000, but if their friends are paying, that cannot be considered as expenses incurred by the candidates.

"What we audit and monitor is expenses borne by the candidates themselves," he added.

-- BERNAMA