Fatimah: Inter-state travel for campaigners should be restricted if state polls held in midst of Covid-19 pandemic

Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah

KUCHING (Nov 2): Inter-state travel for campaigners should be restricted if the 12th state election is held in the midst of the current Covid-19 pandemic, said Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

The Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development said the state election is very much an internal affair and hence there would be no need for campaigners outside Sarawak to have a hand in it.

More importantly, she said restricting inter-state travel would help cut down on the risk of the virus infection.

“Inter-state travel should be a strong ‘no’. One reason is to contain the spread of Covid-19, and the other reason is that this is Sarawak state election, very much an internal affair.

“So, there is no need for campaigners especially from red zones (to come to Sarawak),” she said last night when commenting on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s recent remarks on the next state election being inevitable since he could not declare a state of emergency to stop it.

Fatimah said even though the state election was inevitable, everyone involved could play their part in adhering to the new norms to break the Covid-19 infection chain.

She added that everyone must learn the lessons from the Sabah state election which was held last September.

She also asserted that the relevant authorities must implement enhanced standard operating procedures (SOP) to see a smooth run of the next state polls so as to ensure the safety of Sarawakians.

“All of us including EC (Election Commission), politicians, party workers, officers, enforcement agencies and departments and community members have to learn from the Sabah election.

“EC, National Security Council (MKN) and SDMC (Sarawak Disaster Management Committee) have to work very closely to come up with enhanced SOP so that (the state) election can proceed smoothly and very importantly in strict compliance with enhanced SOP to contain the spread of Covid-19, hence ensuring the people’s safety,” she said.

The post Fatimah: Inter-state travel for campaigners should be restricted if state polls held in midst of Covid-19 pandemic appeared first on Borneo Post Online.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3oNP4Gw
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