The Election Commission (EC) today has confirmed that the Sarawak election is imminent and a meeting will be convened to detail the implementation.
EC secretary Ikmalrudin Ishak said it has been officially notified by Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg about the lifting of the localised emergency in the state which had frozen the expiration of the state assembly after its term ended in June.
The emergency was supposed to last until February 2022 but was lifted yesterday after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong consulted with Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Ikmalrudin said that in accordance with Section 2(2) of the Emergency (Essential Powers) (Sarawak) Ordinance 2021, the state assembly will be automatically dissolved when the emergency is lifted.
He added that Section 3(4) of the same ordinance also states that the state election must follow within 60 days from the end of the emergency.
"Therefore, the EC will convene a special meeting to discuss the implementation of the election.
"The date of the meeting will be announced by the EC," he said.
The localised emergency was introduced in August to prevent fresh polls amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the national vaccination against Covid-19 is now above 90 percent, the hospitalisation rate in Sarawak is still significant at 68 percent.
The Agong had similarly expressed concern about the impact of fresh polls on the Covid-19 pandemic but had lifted the emergency anyway, citing that the decision was "difficult and complicated".
Critics have accused the GPS incumbent government of trying to rush fresh polls in order to prevent a large pool of new young voters from participating.
The new voting age of 18, lowered from 21, will take effect next year, together with automatic voter registration. - Mkini
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