KUALA LUMPUR – The looming Johor polls will see slightly more lenient standard operating procedures (SOPs) in comparison with those enforced during the Melaka and Sarawak elections last year, said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Speaking to the press after attending an event today in Negri Sembilan, he said there will still be SOPs but more leeway will be given for certain practices.
“The state election in Johor will still have relatively strict SOPs, and will be nothing like pre-Covid-19 days.
“However, there will be more things allowed compared to the previous elections in Melaka and Sarawak,” he said, adding that the Election Commission (EC) will be announcing the full SOPs later.
This comes on the back of a surge in daily cases, mostly attributed to the Omicron variant. However, the ministry had said severe cases represent a small percentage while the majority are in Categories 1 and 2.
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 caseload has continued to surge over the past week. There were 22,802 new infections today while cumulative cases breached the three-million mark at 3,019,163.
Khairy also stood by the decision to hold a state election while the country continues to battle the Omicron wave, saying the ministry has studied the effects of the variant on public health in tandem with the nation’s vaccination roll-out.
“Looking at such factors, we are confident that a state election can be held. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have already held two state elections, both of which did not result in a spike in cases or an increased number of clusters.
“With Omicron now in our midst, there will be an increase in the number of infections but we are hoping that cases will not be severely symptomatic, which means that we can still hold the state election,” he said, adding that the public and politicians must do their part in adhering to the SOPs.
Johoreans will head to the polls on March 12, with the EC setting March 8 for early voting and February 26 for nomination.
The early polls in Johor are the third state election in recent months, with Barisan Nasional capturing Melaka last November, winning 21 of the 28 state constituencies, while its ally Gabungan Parti Sarawak took 76 of 82 seats in the Borneo state last December. – The Vibes, February 12, 2022
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