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KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry is against holding a general election “any time soon,” said its minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
“In cases where it is avoidable... the ministry is of the position that holding a general election now would be unsuitable,” he said in a press conference today.
He attributed this to rising hospitalisation rates as well as an increase in new Covid-19 cases.
Malaysia logged 5,501 new cases of Covid-19 today, marking a seven-day average of close to 6,000 daily cases.
Besides the caseload figures, Khairy highlighted the emergence of new variants as a cause for concern.
Yesterday, South African scientists announced the discovery of the B.1.1.529 variant that has at least 10 unidentified mutations.
In response to this, the government will impose a travel ban on those who have been to South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe in the last 14 days. The ban will take effect tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Khairy said that there have yet to be reports of Covid-19 clusters linked to the recently concluded Melaka election.
“After we have a large event, the effects can only be seen 10 days after,” he said, adding that “we will have to wait and see”.
On the upcoming Sarawak polls, Khairy said State Secretary Datuk Jaul Samion had raised a number of concerns related to election standard operating procedures.
He added that Jaul’s concerns centred around the difficulties of social media campaigning in areas with poor internet access.
“The Health Ministry has had a series of discussions with the state secretary, and there are still a number of things that we need to agree upon before we make the recommendations to the Election Commission.”
Sarawak heads to the polls on December 18, with nomination day falling on December 6 and early voting on December 14. – The Vibes, November 26, 2021
