THE Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC) has expressed concern with the surging number of COVID-19 cases and urged the Government to proceed cautiously with the upcoming Johor state election.
Despite patients with the Omicron variant generally presenting milder symptoms, the number of patients admitted to hospitals is also increasing.
“Although the Health Ministry (MOH) has stressed that this has not strained the national health system we urge the government to proceed cautiously with the Johor state elections,” it said in a statement.
MHC has therefore recommended implementing safer voting practices and banning physical campaigning, pointing out that the Election Commission (EC) must significantly enhance the country’s voting and election process to ensure that every citizen can meet their democratic duty during the pandemic.
“In the Johor election, we believe that physical campaigning should be banned, and enforcement be strict and fair,” it added.
“The EC should also immediately begin implementing new mechanisms to enable more comprehensive postal or electronic voting while protecting against fraud.”
The coalition also urged all Malaysians to take the vaccine boosters as there is strong evidence that boosters will protect against Omicron.
“At the same time, we urge all parties to lead by example during election campaigning. After two years of COVID-19, there should be no instances of leaders flouting standard operating procedures (SOPs) and being fined,” it noted.
“We also urge the MOH to work with the EC to ensure smarter health SOPs are in place for the Johor elections.
“These smarter SOPs are especially important because Malaysia will need to hold a General Election before May 2023, and the experience in Johor can help us build better General Election SOPs.”
MHC went on to suggest that the Government postpone the Johor election should the country’s COVID-19 situation worsened drastically.
It said that although the Melaka and Sarawak state polls last year did not lead to a rise in cases, the current situation is much different.
“One, the Omicron wave started after the Sarawak elections, and Omicron is more infectious. Two, our booster rate in 2022 is slower than the primary vaccinations rate in 2021.
“Three, Johor will see more registered voters moving around the state, with Undi18 implemented for the first time with two to five times more voters than Sarawak or Melaka respectively,” MHC reckoned.
“If the epidemiological situation worsens, we will have to consider the drastic step of postponing the elections.
“The MHC understands the importance of elections. However, emerging evidence shows that the increase in case numbers may affect the capacity of Malaysian healthcare workers to cope.
“Therefore, it is crucial to implement safer voting practices, ban physical campaigning, increase SOP enforcement, and consider postponing the elections if the public health situation drastically worsens.” – Feb 25, 2022
Main photo credit: NST
