PUTRAJAYA must ask the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare an emergency in Malacca and appoint the state secretary as caretaker to prevent a snap election from taking place, said Mukhriz Mahathir.

The Pejuang president in a statement today said this is to avoid a possible Covid-19 outbreak stemming from state polls.

“The federal government should seek the consent of the Agong to declare an emergency in Malacca and appoint the state secretary as a temporary caretaker.

“The lives of the people should not be put at risk by having an election, especially at a time when the country is rebuilding itself.”

Although an election is important as the state assembly has been dissolved and a new mandate is needed, what is more important is to not jeopardise the lives of the people, as in the case of the Sabah polls, he added.

The Sabah election in September last year saw a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the country, after a lockdown in March brought down the number of daily infections to single digits.

“The lives of the people should not be sacrificed for the sake of Umno’s internal politics, which has led to the crisis in Malacca,” said Mukhriz, adding that locals do not want to have an election when they are still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“They are starting to rebuild their lives and livelihoods again. Do not force them to come out and vote because they may boycott the election altogether.”

Four Malacca assemblymen had on Monday announced that they have lost confidence in Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali and withdrew support their support.

They are Sg Udang assemblyman and former chief minister Idris Haron, Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu), Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas) and Nor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor).

After this development, Sulaiman has the support of 13 assemblymen (Umno 12, Bersatu 1), while 15 representatives are in the opposition (PH 11, the four who withdrew support).

The Malacca Legislative Assembly has 28 seats.

Malacca Governor Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam has dissolved the state assembly, following a request by Sulaiman, following which a state election must be held within 60 days. – October 9, 2021.