Kit Siang slammed over low voter turnout claim for S’wak, Melaka polls

KUCHING: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vicepresident Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has hit out at Democratic Action Party (DAP) veteran Lim Kit Siang for claiming the voter turnout rate in the coming Sarawak election as well as the ongoing Melaka polls would be as low as 30 per cent amid Covid-19 concerns.

“He (Lim) should instead be calling voters to go out and vote. This should be the way to legitimise a government, whether it’s at the state or federal level. The voter turnout rate must be high,” Abdul Karim told a press conference here yesterday.

Abdul Karim hoped the voter turnout for the upcoming polls would be between 70 and 80 per cent, saying that this had always been the case in past state elections.

Touching on the Sabah election that triggered a massive spike in Covid-19 cases around the country last year, Abdul Karim said the relevant authorities are now better prepared having learnt from that lesson.

“It is because the bitter lessons like this have strengthened us, and I believe that is why the Election Commission has come up with the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the Melaka state election.

“There is no need to fear that calling for the votes will later make us ‘famous’ for new Covid19 infections. Just go out and vote. We would love to see the percentage of voting to be very high.”

He also said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had rightly pointed out that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) had been governing in ‘injury time’ following the expiry of the State Legislative Assembly’s term on June 6 this year.

“We are already on borrowed time, and it’s only fair to the people to renew our mandate on which political parties should form the new state government,” he said.

He pointed out that with the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak on a downward trend, a safe election should be able to be held with the proper guidance and SOP in place.

He said even medical experts and professionals cannot guarantee there will not be a resurgence of Covid-19 cases should the election be held next year.

“This is the reason why we are calling for a state election now, unless the people of Sarawak would love to let GPS continue to govern for another five years without renewing the mandate.

“I also don’t know why the opposition has kept calling for the election to not be held now during this time. I do not know why but maybe they are not ready,” he said.

On a related note, Abdul Karim said he believed the cost of holding the state election this time around will probably be the highest, due to the implementation of the pandemic-related SOP.

When asked on political leaders from outside Sarawak coming to assist during the campaign period, he said the state has its own immigration autonomy and those flying in would have to comply with the SOP in place.