THE Ministry of Health (MOH) should review the Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Malacca state elections as parties and candidates are finding it almost impossible to do anything, Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said.

“We cannot move at all during this election period, so how do you expect us to introduce our candidates to the voters,” he said at a press conference in Bemban, Malacca today.

MOH should at least allow election candidates to visit voters in the constituencies they are contesting with proper physical distancing, he said.

“Almost everything has been relaxed now, so MOH should at least loosen the SOP a bit,” said Muhyiddin, who is also the National Recovery Council chairman.

Earlier today, PN’s Telok Mas election operations centre was closed for 14 days after a Covid-19 case was detected on the premises, according to a Sinar Harian report.

PN has also been fined RM10,000 for failing to provide a body temperature scanner at the operations centre, where its Telok Mas candidate, Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen, runs his campaign.

Yesterday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the MOH is satisfied with compliance of SOP for the Malacca elections.

He, however, advised political leaders to lead by example so that the public will also abide by the SOP.

“MOH has observed that overall, there has been good SOP compliance, but there have been some cases of non-compliance by some leaders and politicians. These people should be setting a good example,” Khairy told reporters after appearing as a guest on the Selamat Pagi Malaysia programme on RTM1.

“These politicians should have a better understanding, and perhaps when they go down to the ground, they should have fewer officials escorting them. When there are too many in their entourage, it is hard to observe physical distancing.” – November 12, 2021.