HOLDING an election without achieving Covid-19 herd immunity will put the country in danger, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad

The Pejuang chairman said that was his reply to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah when he was asked if election could be held next year or anytime soon

“When we have given vaccines to 80% of the people in the country, at that stage we are quite safe,” the Langkawi MP told the media in a virtual press conference held today after his audience with the king

Mahathir said lessons should be taken from the Sabah state election, held September last year, which caused the cases in the country to spiral upwards

“Before that (vaccinating 80% population) it is quite dangerous. What happened in Sabah could happen throughout the country,” he said.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had last year admitted that the Sabah elections held on September 26, was one of the reasons for the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country.

His alliance had then won the state elections.

Muhyiddin said although the Election Commission (EC) had set tight health protocols for the Sabah elections, compliance was very weak.

He added that the number of cumulative cases in the state was 808 on nomination day (September 12), increasing by 91.5% to 1,547 cases by polling day, 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. – June 10, 2021.