KUCHING – Parti Aspirasi president Lina Soo is unhappy with the suggestion by the Election Commision (EC) that the Sarawak party polls be held before March 31.
Soo said between now and March 31 is the most critical period which could push the health crisis off the edge due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Do we want to take such a great risk at the height of this uncertainty?” she asked.
Speaking to The Vibes, she said the deadline for the polls to be held is August 5 which is six months away.
“Many governments would have rolled out their Covid-19 vaccines and millions would have been vaccinated by the middle of this year,” she said.
“By this time a new Malaysian government would well have been underway. The Election Commission personnel would have received their vaccines by this time and it would be less risky for them to enter the state.”
She said, an election is a super-spreader of Covid-19 infections as seen during the Sabah state polls last year and the United States presidential elections in November.
Soo was responding to EC chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh who told the Borneo Post on January 7 that the state election can be held even during the Recovery Movement Control Order period if all parties work hand in glove and cooperate fully to comply with the standard operating procedures in the new normal.
He had also said candidates are encouraged to campaign using social media instead of going house to house or holding mass speeches.
“If our government is so good at issuing guidelines to contain the pandemic why is the country now experiencing the highest rate of infectivity?”
“I think it is just daft to propose an election using social media platforms as if internet penetration and connectivity is so good in Sarawak.”
She said the safety and health status of Sarawakians must come first before “winning elections.”
“There will always be elections and in the current situation, waiting for another six months would be prudent. Any lives lost due to Covid-19 because of the elections would be irreversible,” said Soo. – The Vibes, January 9, 2021
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