Voters wait their turn at a polling station in Sabah on Sept 26. The state saw a surge in Covid-19 cases during the snap election. – Picture by Bernama
KUCHING (Oct 15): It will be reckless to call for an election in Sarawak now and place the people at risk of Covid-19 infection, said Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) Secretariat today.
It said in a statement that it was clear that the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government was in a hurry to call the state election in the belief that it would be an advantage to the coalition.
“Which matters more: the health of Sarawakians or political power? If an election is held now, and there is an upsurge in infection rate, the blame will lie solely with GPS for doing so after seeing the Sabah experience,” it said, referring to a statement yesterday by a GPS leader Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Abdul Karim, who is a Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu vice president, had said that the Election Commission (EC) had no say on when is the right time to hold the polls after it’s chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh cautioned against a state polls now.
The PSB Secretariat pointed out that the recent Sabah state election showed the Covid-19 pandemic would cause a low turn out of voters, and the low turnout favoured Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional parties.
“Clearly, GPS sees that it will have an advantage in calling an early election.
“However, the other thing that the Sabah election shows is that it will cause a huge outbreak of Covid-19 infection in the state. From being a state with one of the lowest infection rate to becoming the State with the highest infection rate, this is solely thanks to the election,” it said.
PSB Secretariat also said the call made by EC not to hold the Sarawak state election now was in order not to have a repeat of the Sabah outbreak.
“Its (EC) concern is for the health and safety of the people. Karim and the GPS government would do well to listen to the EC instead of reprimanding the EC.
“If the GPS government proceeds to call an election during this pandemic, it will show to the people that political expediency matters more than the health and safety of the people of Sarawak,” it said.
Yesterday, Abdul Karim also said the EC was established to ensure fair and equitable operations during elections in the country and not determining when they should be held.
Pointing out that the current term of the State Legislative Assembly expires in April Next year, Abdul Karim said the people of Sarawak do not have much time left and a state election must be held soon.
While he agreed that the pandemic was worrying, Abdul Karim said the state must learn from Sabah’s experience during its recent snap polls.
He also said Singapore was able to keep cases under control when holding its election recently despite the Covid-19 threat.
There have been speculations that Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg would seek the dissolution of the state assembly after its sitting from November 9 to 18.
While Abang Johari had not given a clear date on when the polls could be held, he had set tongues wagging recently when he reportedly urged members of his party, PBB, to be prepared for the polls ‘at any time’.