KUCHING, Oct 14: The Election Commission (EC) has no right to say when or if Sarawak should or should not hold its state election, opines State Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Yesterday, national news agency Bernama quoted EC chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh as saying that general or state elections are not suitable to be held at this time, when the country is being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Abdul Ghani asserted that it was not easy to maintain the safety of the people in an epidemic when he was asked to comment on Sarawak’s state election which may be called anytime.
He added that Sabah’s recent state election and mass rally was one of the causes of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The 11th Sarawak state election was held on May 7, 2016 and the 12th has to be held by July 2021.
Expressing his disagreement with Abdul Ghani’s statement, Abdul Karim was adamant that EC has no right to decide or comment on when a state or general election should be held.
“Their (EC) job is just to wait for the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) or Parliament to dissolve, then they can take their work (sic) from there and decide on how to conduct the election according to standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“Sarawak must hold its election, otherwise the state assembly will automatically dissolve,” Abdul Karim told reporters at a press conference at his ministry’s office here today.
Once the DUN has been dissolved, EC has a maximum of 60 days from the date of dissolution to hold an election, according to Clause (1) of Article 21 of the Sarawak Constitution.
“Our due date is not very far away. We are already in October and it is just a few months away. If EC insists that it is dangerous due to Covid-19, then amend the constitution,” Abdul Karim added.
When the time comes to hold the election, Abdul Karim opined everyone will just have to abide by the SOPs and be responsible in taking care of themselves. — DayakDaily
