KUALA LUMPUR: The government will leave it to the Election Commission (EC) to discuss with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the National Security Council (MKN) about further action regarding by-elections for the Gerik parliamentary seat in Perak and Bugaya state seat in Sabah, scheduled for Jan 16.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pix) said that this includes a risk assessment by the MOH to find out whether the by-elections could be held, as the two constituencies are currently placed under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
“I do not know whether a state of emergency should be declared or not. We will leave it to the next discussion and the government will not intervene in this matter,” he said at a press conference at Wisma Pertahanan here, today.
The EC today set the by-election for the two seats to be held simultaneously on Jan 16, next year, while the nomination day is set for Jan 4 and early voting on Jan 12.
On Nov 18, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah made a Proclamation of Emergency for the Batu Sapi parliamentary constituency, in effect cancelling the by-election for the seat, as a proactive measure to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. -Bernama
More to come
