KUCHING: Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) does not like the idea of the coming state polls to be held during the recovery movement control order (RMCO) which ends on March 31.
“Between now and March 31 is the most critical period which may push us off the edge. Do we want to take such a great risk at the height of uncertainty?” the party president Lina Soo questioned.
She was referring to Election Commission (EC) chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh’s recent remark that the coming 12th Sarawak Election can be held even during the recovery movement control order (RMCO) period, provided that all parties work together and comply with the new norms and the Covid-19 prevention guidelines.
Lina said the deadline for the last date to hold polls is Aug 5 which is almost six months away.
Meanwhile, the governments have rolled off the Covid-19 vaccine and millions will be vaccinated by middle of this year.
“The EC staff and personnel involved in the election process would have received their vaccines by then and it would be less risky to have them enter Sarawak.
“An election is a super speaker event as we had witnessed from the Sabah election and United States presidential election.
“If our government is so good at issuing guidelines to contain Covid-19, why is Malaysia facing the highest infection rate right now?” she added.
She further stressed that the health and safety of Sarawakians must come first before winning elections.
“There will always be elections, and in the current situation, waiting for half a year is prudent. But a life lost due to Covid-19 is irreplaceable and irreversible.
“Furthermore I think it’s just daft to propose an election using social media platforms as if internet penetration and connectivity is so good in Sarawak,” she concluded.
