JOHOR BARU: A candidate from the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) cries foul after his ceramah was abruptly stopped by Election Commission (EC) officers on Wednesday (March 2) night.

       Mohd Azrol Ab Rahani, who is Muda's candidate for Bukit Permai, said his ceramah was stopped by the EC despite being held in the vicinity of his operations centre.

       "The ceramah wasn't allowed to proceed even though a permit was shown by Muda to the EC officers present.

       "Muda is strongly against that action as it isn't in line with the SOP that was set recently," he said.

       A statement by the EC on Wednesday (March 2) stated that political ceramah can be held up to midnight and are allowed to be held in the vicinity of the party's operations centre, subject to a limit of 100 participants, or 50% of the venue capacity, whichever is lower.

       Previously, all ceramah were limited to two hours and could not go beyond 10pm, and must be held in the party's operations centre.

       Azrol said the authorities must be fair and rational before taking any action on parties involved in the Johor state election.

       "Muda will give its full cooperation to the authorities to ensure a smooth and clean electoral process," added Azrol.

       In the Johor state election, the EC allowed ceramah, physical campaigning and house-to-house visits throughout the campaigning period.

       Previously, physical ceramah were banned in the Melaka state election and in the Sarawak state election, physical ceramah were only allowed in areas with poor Internet connectivity.

       Polling day will be on March 12.