ROSE: Not accurate CM does not have power to decide timing of polls

SIBU: Persatuan Pemangkin Daya Masyarakat (ROSE) yesterday repeated its call to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg not to call for the state election before the Sarawak Emergency ends in February next year.

It a press statement, it said with the Emergency confined only to Sarawak, the chief minister as the head of the State Executive is responsible to advise the Yang diPertuan Agong, through the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, on the timing to end the Emergency to allow for the state polls to be held.

“It is not entirely true that the chief minister does not have the power to decide on the time to have the election,” ROSE said.

The statement was issued in response to Abang Johari’s remarks at an event in Sri Aman earlier yesterday that the exact time for the Sarawak election would depend on the Agong.

“How would I know? It’s not within my powers. It’s the Agong’s. If His Majesty says to hold elections, then it will happen,” the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman told reporters.

“It’s not within my powers. I cannot tell you in detail now, because it is not my power.”

ROSE meanwhile said having an election before the implementation on Undi18 at the end of this year would mean denying about 665,543 Sarawakians the right to vote.

“The names of these 665,543 voters, which represent an increase of 54.5 per cent of the total number of Sarawak voters in the 14th General Election, will only be added to the electoral roll at the completion of the Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) process by the Election Commission (EC) come January 2022.

“To deny them the right to vote now, when they are on the cusp of being registered, is to thus show contempt for the High Court’s decision and also the federal government’s desire to give more power to youths to participate in the nation’s development process,” it stated.

According to ROSE, an analysis of the pre-registration verification process currently being undertaken by the EC, details of which are displayed on their website, showed that almost half of all Sarawak state constituencies will experience a more than 50 per cent increase in voter numbers.

“Some suburban and growth areas will see up to a 95 per cent increase in new voters. Among the constituencies are Tupong, Pantai Damai, Samariang, Batu Kawah, Senadin and Lambir.

“It is without a doubt that these are the areas in which young people will be voting for the first time and making their mark after the implementation of Undi18 and the AVR by the end of the year,” it stated.

ROSE believed that holding the Sarawak elections next year will therefore allow more than 1.9 million qualified voters to exercise their democratic right.

It is therefore incumbent on the decision-makers including the chief minister to enable the voices of the young to be heard in the coming state election, said ROSE.

It also said that despite the number of daily Covid19 infections going down, the statistics show that Intensive Care Unit (ICU) occupancy is not going down nor are the daily hospital admissions.

The statement also said that instead of rushing into an election before the end of this year, the state government needs to use this time to ask the EC to put in place robust voting procedures that will reduce the number of voters at any one time in a polling station.

“They can do so not merely by suggesting time slots for going out to vote but by increasing the number of polling days.

“Special voting arrangements like postal or advance voting should also be expanded to allow Sarawakian voters to vote outof-region in West Malaysia or Sabah.

“This would save cost and reduce the health risks for all involved if they are forced to travel home to vote instead,” it stated.

The statement also called for strict measures to be put in place by the EC for the campaign period.

“For example, to compensate for any reduction of face-toface campaigning, televised and radio debates can be held. Equal airtime slots can be given to all contesting political parties or candidates for each constituency.

“There are a myriad of other ways to manage the risks associated with a Covid election and the chief minister can lead the way by showing the rest of Malaysia that Sarawak knows how to hold a safe and inclusive election,” it said.