Sarawak to proceed with state polls as no emergency declared, says CM

Abang Johari speaking to reporters after officiating at the launching ceremony for a reef ball planting programme at Kem Putra Sentosa in Sematan today (Oct 26, 2020).

LUNDU, Oct 26: The 12th State Election will proceed since there was no emergency declared, says Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

According to Abang Johari, as Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah did not give his approval for a declaration of emergency, this means that the Sarawak government would continue to function as normal and serve the people.

“For us in Sarawak, we know that our mandate will end and we will leave it to the Election Commission (EC) and the National Security Council (MKN) to come out with the standard operating procedure (SOP) to enable us to hold an election in a controlled environment, in order to curb the spread of Covid-19,” he said.

Abang Johari said this when met by reporters after officiating at the launching ceremony for a reef ball planting programme at Kem Putra Sentosa in Sematan today.

Abang Johari also hoped relevant authorities such as the EC and MKN would take note of the recent Singapore and New Zealand elections as examples.

“They must look at how the election was managed during the Covid-19 pandemic situation,” he added. — DayakDaily