“‘I will approve hundreds of thousands of aid… (as long as you) promise to vote for my party on Aug 12.’

“Nothing to see here. Just the normalisation of corruption,” Saddiq said in a posting on Twitter today. Syed Saddiq said this while commenting on Zahid's allocation of RM250,000 to the Terengganu Youth Council and RM200,000 to motorcycle teams throughout the state.In the announcement, Zahid asked the youths present at the event to vote for the "blue and red wave" in the August 12 state election.

"That’s what I just (announced). After this, the prime minister will come up; he will top up, and add more, InsyaAllah. "As long as on August 12, the youth will join the blue wave (BN) and the red wave (Pakatan Harapan) in the state of Terengganu," he said. Zahid then joked: "If the applause gets louder, the prime minister will approve many more." 

In a statement yesterday, electoral watchdog Bersih criticised Zahid over the same speech, saying the deputy prime minister violated two of the 3Cs prohibition during the election – ‘no campaign’ and ‘no conditions’. The third prohibition refers to ‘no candidates’.

As such, Bersih urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to control his cabinet members and heads of federal agencies against making policy announcements or provisions that violate the 3C prohibitions. “There should be no special announcements targeted at states facing polls to attract support.

“Of course, there cannot be any candidates in any announcement ceremony. Any previous conditional announcements, including Zahid’s statement in Terengganu, must be cancelled immediately.

“Anwar and the Madani government must remember that this violation of 3C will affect the credibility of Madani’s ideas, as it will be seen as a party propaganda and not a policy vision for the whole country,” Bersih said. The group previously proposed the 3C ban on July 20 as a guideline for the federal government and the other state governments not participating in the state polls.