Harapan wants EC to allow face-to-face campaigning at Johor polls

 

Pakatan Harapan has urged the Election Commission (EC) to allow face-to-face campaigning activities and political gatherings in the upcoming Johor state election.

It claimed that this should be allowed because the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia has stabilised, which would allow such activities to be conducted safely.

“Since the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia is becoming endemic with the number of cases and hospital admissions being quite stable, and with nearly 80 percent (of the population) being fully vaccinated and over 30 percent receiving a booster dose, Harapan is of the view that the EC should correct standard operating procedures for the 15th Johor election to allow activities such as face-to-face campaigning and ceramah to be conducted safely,” it said.

It said this in a statement issued following today’s presidential council meeting.

 The statement is signed by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim (above), Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) president Wilfred Madius Tangau.

Apart from allowing face-to-face campaigning activities, the coalition said the EC should set at least 21 days for the campaigning period.

The EC should also ensure all parties would enjoy equitable access to the media, and that postal voting at embassies in Singapore, the UK, the US, Australia, and other countries would be conducted smooth.

Separately, Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin also voiced a similar call for a more relaxed campaigning guidelines.

"I hope the SOPs to be set will be balanced between a priority to prevent spread of Covid-19 and give enough space for parties to campaign in a free, fair and safe manner," said Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu president and Johor Bersatu chief, in a statement.

Muhyiddin also confirmed that BN and Umno's decision to seek dissolution of the state assembly was not discussed with PN parties, despite being a member of the state government. 

In September 2020, the Sabah state election seeded a Covid-19 wave that eventually spread all over the country by the end of the year.

At the time, gatherings were allowed with unlimited attendees outdoors and up to 250 indoors.

Face-to-face campaigning

While masks were mandatory in public places and the prevailing variants were less transmissible than the Delta and Omicron variants now circulating in the country, Covid-19 vaccines were not available at the time.

Face-to-face campaigning activities during by-elections and state elections have since become heavily restricted.

For example, such activities are banned outright during the Malacca state election in November last year.

During the Sarawak state election in the following month, which was preceded by an intense vaccination campaign, ceramah is only allowed in 64 out of 82 constituencies identified as having “low 4G coverage” and pre-event Covid-19 tests are mandated.

According to the Health Ministry, both state elections did not lead to a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases.

The Johor state assembly was dissolved on Jan 22, paving way for fresh elections to be held within 60 days. The EC will meet on Feb 2 to decide key dates for the election.

 The election comes amid an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the country, though the number of daily hospital admissions is still on a downtrend. Hospitalisation trends tend to lag several weeks behind case numbers.

As of yesterday, the Covid-19 R-number in Malaysia is 1.08, and the number is the same in Johor.

Any number above 1.00 indicates an accelerating outbreak, which would lead to an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases if the trend is sustained.

The vaccination rate in Johor as of yesterday is 80.7 percent, with 30.0 percent of the population also receiving booster shots. - Mkini