PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today admitted that the Sabah elections had contributed to the surge in Covid-19 cases, but said the polls were something they could not avoid.
Muhyiddin said the election had to be held after Sabah governor Juhar Mahiruddin had dissolved the state assembly.
“We couldn’t avoid it as we are bound by the federal constitution,” he said at a special telecast this evening.
“The election had to be held within 60 days after the state assembly had been dissolved. It could not be postponed.”
However, Muhyiddin said that SOPs that were set by the Election Commission, like social distancing, weren’t observed during campaigning.
He said when he was campaigning in Sabah, he noticed people were sitting side by side in a cramped space, even though they wore face masks.
Muhyiddin said this forced him to come up with his own SOP, including avoiding shaking hands with the public.
On a separate matter, Muhyiddin insisted there were no double standards when it came to the enforcement of home quarantine by those who had returned from Sabah, noting that he himself is doing so now.
“This is the SOP set by the health ministry, and as the prime minister I am not exempted from the SOP,” he said, adding that seven ministers and six deputy ministers were undergoing home quarantine.
Muhyiddin warned that action could be taken against those who flout the rule.
Yesterday, it was reported that Muhyiddin would undergo home quarantine for 14 days.
This comes after he chaired a meeting attended by Religious Affairs Minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, who tested positive for Covid-19. Others who attended last Saturday’s meeting, including health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, are also on home quarantine. - FMT
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