Instead of rushing for polls, get postal votes for Sarawakians outside state, says Pelawan rep
SIBU: The Sarawak government should not to rush into the state election; instead, it should use this period under the Emergency Order to fight for postal votes for Sarawakians living elsewhere, said David Wong Kee Woan.
The Pelawan assemblyman said the state government should take the opportunity to work with the Election Commission (EC) on this ma er.
“DAP (Democratic Action Party) Sarawak has always fought for postal votes for all the Sarawakians currently living outside the state, as forcing them to come back would not only be costly, but also exhausting,” he said in a statement.
“The state government should not require our fellow Sarawakians to come back in crowds, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. If the state government is sincere about protecting Sarawakians’ rights, it should have pushed for the much-needed reforms, instead of undermining the rights of the people for decades.”
He stressed that the Sarawak government should not dissolve the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) now and hold the state election in November as rumoured.
“Although the daily number of new Covid-19 cases has decreased over the weeks, it is mainly due to the fact that the number of tests conducted daily has been reduced drastically.
“The positivity rate in Sarawak, as reported by the CovidNow portal, is 12.0 per cent, and the situation is still severe in the state,” he pointed out.
Wong opined that based on the number of Covid-19 deaths, hospital admissions, intensive care unit (ICU) bed utilisation, and positivity rate, the state would be in no position to hold the election safely.
“In the last 14 days, a total of 790 death cases have been recorded in Malaysia, of which 150 of them are from Sarawak,” he said.
Wong pointed out the people were most worried about unvaccinated teenagers as well as the elderly folk, who contributed to more than three quarters of the Covid-19 death cases in Sarawak.
“These groups are still in the process of ge ing their vaccination shots, whether the first and second shots for the teenagers, or the third booster shot for the elderly folk.
“The state government should ensure that there is plenty of time for these groups to be vaccinated. People are worried that they might bring the virus back to their homes and infect their family members, especially the unvaccinated groups,” he said.
Wong stressed the state government should listen to the voices of the people and the sentiments of the public.
According to him, the people are still trying hard to recover from the pandemic and are generally against the idea of a state election now.
“Sarawak Budget 2022 has already been approved and the government can proceed to implement the plans as in the Budget 2022. The government should be focusing on ge ing people back on their feet and helping the recovery of the state’s economy.
“If the state government feel the pandemic could be controlled in the following months, why the rush to dissolve the DUN and hold the election this year instead of waiting for February 2022 when the Emergency for Sarawak is expected to be li ed.
“Or is there any hidden agenda behind such rush?” Wong questioned.