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PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has admitted that Sabah’s state elections in September were the cause of the third wave of Covic-19 infections in the country.
Explaining the emergency declaration in Batu Sapi that would allow postponement of by-elections there, the Prime Minister said that although the Electoral Commission (EC) had established a strict standard operating procedure (SOP) for the elections, compliance was very weak. . making the epidemic difficult to control.
He added that the number of accumulated cases in the state was 808 on the day of the nomination on September 12, increasing by 91.5% to 1,547 cases on the day of the elections on September 26.
Four weeks later, on October 24, Sabah recorded 11,285 cumulative cases, becoming the first state in the country to record more than 10,000 cases.
As of Wednesday (November 18), Sabah had recorded 24,269 cases and 181 deaths.
Muhyiddin said the cabinet had discussed in detail the effects of the Batu Sapi by-elections if they were to take place while the Covid-19 pandemic was still contagious in Sabah at a meeting on November 13.
“In making this consideration, the Cabinet took into account the consequences of the transmission of Covid-19 in Sabah after the September elections,” he said in a live speech on Wednesday (November 18).
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah had agreed to declare a state of emergency in Batu Sapi to cancel the by-elections that were scheduled for December 5.
Muhyiddin also said that the EC faced limitations in recruiting poll workers as they were concerned about getting infected while on duty.
He said that as of November 6, the EC had only managed to appoint 143 electoral officials, which is only 17.1% of the 837 workers needed for the by-elections.
Muhyiddin stressed that the by-elections would be held when the pandemic ended.
He also said that the Cabinet had sought the opinion of the Attorney General on the best way in terms of legislation and the Federal Constitution to postpone the by-elections to another date.
The Constitution states that any vacancy in Parliament must be filled within 60 days, unless Parliament is dissolved within two years.
“A state of emergency was declared in Batu Sapi, only to cancel and postpone the by-elections in order to protect the lives of the people. The lives of the people of Batu Sapi will not be affected by the declaration of emergency.
“There is no curfew and no military-style government in Batu Sapi. Government administration, economic activities and social activities may continue to be subject to the practice of new rules and regulations, as well as the SOP under the conditional movement control order in Sabah, ”Muhyiddin said.
Batu Sapi’s parliamentary seat was declared vacant following the death of his deputy Datuk Liew Vui Keong of Parti Warisan Sabah on 2 October.
It is believed that he died due to a lung infection.
Then, the EC declared November 23 as the nomination day, set December 1 for early elections and December 5 for by-elections.
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