PAKATAN Harapan (PH) might as well kiss their ceramah events goodbye as the latest election standard operating procedure (SOP) now prohibits more than 100 people at these gatherings.  

This SOP has been fine-tuned to include the organisers, speakers, handlers and attendees, said the Election Commission (EC) in a statement today.

The EC said that ceramah can only be held inside or around the premises.  

“The total number of attendees cannot exceed 100 or 50% capacity of the premises,” said EC. 

The EC said the revised election SOP, proposed by the National Security Council and Health Ministry (MOH), were to ensure sufficient room for 1m social distancing. 

It added that the ceramah cannot go beyond midnight and is not allowed in open or public areas. 

The EC said the revised SOP takes effect immediately. 

The new SOP effectively halts most PH ceramah events, as based on Tuesday night’s event in Kota Iskandar, there were more than 100 people consisting mostly of enforcement officers, journalists and party workers. 

Of the three main parties, PH’s favourite way to reach voters during an election campaign is through public ceramah and have been known to attract tens of thousands during the 2018 election.

Although there were very few public supporters, MOH, nevertheless issued three compounds amounting to RM1,000 each would be issued for violating Covid-19 SOP. 

According to malaysiakini.com, the compounds were given because some of the speakers did not use masks while speaking, the organisers failed to set up proper entrances and exits with the MySejahtera code and inadequate social distancing between chairs. 

But while PH was fined yesterday, Perikatan Nasional (PN) did not encounter any problems during the launch of its manifesto in a hotel in Johor Baru. 

Although the PN event had almost 150 people including journalists, organisers and party members, it went smoothly without any interruption. 

Interestingly, PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin also spoke at the launch and the subsequent press conference without using a mask.  

It is unclear whether MOH issued any compounds to the pact. – March 2, 2022.