In its discussions with the Health Ministry, the Sarawak government has requested election standard operating procedures (SOPs) that "differ" from what was implemented in Malacca.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has targeted next Tuesday (Nov 30) for these SOPs to be finalised so they can be recommended to the Election Commission.

He has also appointed Deputy Health Minister II and GPS politician Aaron Ago Dagang (above) to oversee the talks.

"The Sarawak state secretary has presented some requests that are slightly different from (SOPs) in the Malacca state election.

"Their argument is that there are areas in Sarawak that do not have internet access, thus making it quite difficult for social media campaigning.

"The ministry has held a series of discussions and engagements with the Sarawak state secretary. I had an engagement session with them yesterday.

"There are still a few things that need to be agreed upon by the ministry (before) we make recommendations to the EC," Khairy said in a broadcasted press conference this evening.

The Sarawak election campaign period is from Dec 6 to Dec 17. Polling day is on Dec 18.

Asked what kind of SOPs the ministry recommended for the Sarawak election, Khairy declined to reveal unconfirmed decisions.

"I don't want to get into it because it is hypothetical right now (and) it has not been decided yet.

"So I think rather than making it into an open polemic, let us discuss at the ministry and state secretary level for us to consider the risk of allowing some of these SOPs that may differ from Malacca.

"And the EC will announce them once we have (given) recommendations to the EC," he answered.

For the recent Malacca election, the EC imposed a ban on physical campaigning, ceramah (public talks), house visits and walkabouts.

All election workers had to undergo a self-test every two days.

These SOPs were aimed at preventing Covid-19 transmission.

Wrong time for GE15

As for calls from his party Umno for GE15 to be held in the near future, Khairy said the ministry was firmly against it.

He stressed it would be "very irresponsible" to hold an unnecessary national election during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"A general election does not need to be called yet, and the ministry's stance is that it is not suitable for us to have a general election right now.

"I would like to emphasise two things. Firstly, the (Covid-19) case situation is still worrying, and hospital admissions are rising.

"And there has been an emergence of a new variant.

"I think that if a general election is held at this time, it will be very irresponsible. The position of the ministry is that we will advise strongly against a general election anytime soon," he stressed.

GE15 is not due until 2023.

The Ismail Sabri Yaakob administration previously signed a memorandum of understanding with opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan where it agreed to not dissolve Parliament before July 31, 2022.

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