KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) said it is time now to let the people decide on a new government with a fresh mandate to govern the state.
SUPP secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew on Thursday (Nov 4) thanked the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for lifting the Proclamation of Emergency for Sarawak which would uphold democracy and return the power to the people to elect and form a new Sarawak government.
Ting, who is also also Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, said the lifting of the Emergency is necessary to pave the way for Sarawak’s 12th State Election as the term of the current State Legislative Assembly (DUN) ended on June 6 this year.
“Now, with the lifting of the Proclamation of Emergency, the DUN is finally dissolved, and the Election Commission (EC) has to convene a meeting for the state election to be held within 60 days,” he added.
“The spread of Covid-19 during the election campaign and polling day is a serious concern but we are confident that the EC will come up with stringent guidelines on how to conduct the election campaign and polling safely,” he said.
Ting added that SUPP respected the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s decision as His Majesty had been fully briefed and must have taken all factors into consideration when deciding whether Sarawak’s state election should proceed.
He pointed out that this is especially as Sarawak is entering into the Covid-19 endemic phase and 90 percent of the Sarawak population aged 18 and above are fully vaccinated.
Earlier on Wednesday, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah consented to the Proclamation of Emergency for Sarawak, which took effect on Aug 2, to be lifted.
