“The surge in Covid-19 infections following the Sabah general election was likely due to the loosening of quarantine rules for politicians returning from Sabah and the wanton disregard for SOPs by politicians criss-crossing from Sabah to Putrajaya and vice versa”
Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
مليهتكن چارا محي الدين تاڠني چوۏيد-19، تيدق اد بيذا جك ڤيليهن راي عموم داداكن سكارڠ
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Under pressure due to the nationwide dissent against Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his administration, PAS has taken the rakyat to task by alleging that the time is not right to push Muhyiddin to hold the 15th general election.
This was expressed by PAS vice president and Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar, Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, who added that the Covid-19 pandemic is still a threat to the nation and that the government does not want a repeat of what happened in Sabah.
In other words, PAS admits that the Sabah State Election, triggered by attempts from UMNO and PPBM to secure the position of Sabah Chief Minister, caused an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 infections that has yet to subside to this very day.
Still, the notion that “now is not right to push Muhyiddin to hold the 15th general election” holds no water, as the handling of the pandemic by Muhyiddin’s administration leaves much to be desired.
In the first place, the fact that the “Total Lockdown” imposed on the 1st of June 2021 isn’t a lockdown by any known standard speaks volumes of the government’s failure to flatten the Covid-19 curve and avoid the collapse of the healthcare system.
In the second place, having people line up at voting centres with strict adherence to SOPs is not much different from what is happening today at food stalls and non-essential business facilities that have since been allowed to operate.
In fact, polling would be a one day event, unlike vaccination centres where crowding seems to be a regular event, and yet, the transmission of disease does seem to have been averted successfully.
This may have something to do with the fact that vaccination centres, like polling centres, have many personnel to help ensure the adherence to SOPs.
So you see, it’s all about the adherence of SOPs and the availability of personnel to force people to follow these SOPs.
The only risk factor would be the crowding of people at ceramahs, and this can be averted if the government does away with ceramahs or door to door visits and restricts campaigning to the social media.
So tell me, what reason is there not to dissolve parliament and conduct the 15th general election?
It is highly unlikely that we will see “election clusters” emerge in settings where people would be forced to adhere to the 1 metre rule.
Besides, we yet to see clusters emerging from eateries and convenience stores where the 1 meter distancing rule is rarely adhered to.
The surge in Covid-19 infections following the Sabah general election was probably due to the loosening of quarantine rules for politicians returning from Sabah and the wanton disregard for SOPs by politicians criss-crossing from Sabah to Putrajaya and vice versa.
And let’s not forget the SOP breaches by politicians conducting ceramahs in Sabah where tens of thousands of Sabahans were seen openly flouting social distancing rules without a single politician advising the crowd to adhere to SOPs.
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