MP SPEAKS | No justification to hold S'wak polls now
MP SPEAKS | I think before we start to compare our country's Covid-19 position with countries like Singapore, or New Zealand, we must first understand the local context and our situation in Sarawak.
It is not just as simple as controlling our immigration borders.
MP SPEAKS | I think before we start to compare our country's Covid-19 position with countries like Singapore, or New Zealand, we must first understand the local context and our situation in Sarawak.
It is not just as simple as controlling our immigration borders.
For a state election to be held in Sarawak, many of the staff and officers including those from the Election Commission and law enforcers such as the police will be mobilised from outside Sarawak to help out with the election.
We must understand that the size of Sarawak is almost as big as West Malaysia and to carry out a state election will require a lot of manpower. So we are looking at many people coming in, which in turn increases the risk of the virus being brought into Sarawak.
On top of that, this also includes Sarawakian voters that are working and studying outside Sarawak. In order for them to vote, they will need to fly into Sarawak as well and are we going to deny them entry and deny their right to vote?
Even if they are allowed to vote in quarantine centres, the length of the quarantine period will deter many Sarawakians from coming back to vote as they may not be able to get such a long time off from work or even school.
That itself is also against the spirit of democracy, and we should instead find ways to allow everyone the right to exercise their vote.
In comparison, Singapore is a small country, and almost all manpower to run their elections are internally mobilised. In countries such as New Zealand, the prime minister has already postponed the election once before once due to rising numbers of Covid-19.
Now they have not had a single case for the past 10 days and are moving back to Level 1 (low risk) where there are no more restrictions.
In the case of Sarawak, since the current state government's mandate only ends in June 2021, there is no rush or justification for the state election to be held soon.
While the number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak now may seem low, no one can predict its trend in the future, especially if there are new hidden clusters that are being discovered.
Before this, we all must remember the time when the numbers of cases in Sarawak was higher than the rest of the country, especially with the discovery of new clusters then.
That is why nothing should ever be taken for granted.
Right now, the main focus has to be on curbing the virus while protecting the people's lives and their livelihoods.
KELVIN YII LEE WUEN is DAP MP for Bandar Kuching.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
