Interstate travel to be announced soon, says PM

Good news soon: Passengers buying bus tickets at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS). Malaysians will be allowed to travel interstate within days. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: All Malaysians will be allowed to travel interstate in the next few days, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said it would not be long before the government made a decision on this.

“We will announce this very soon. Maybe one, two or three days. But not long,” he said.

He said all state borders would be opened up simultaneously.

As of Oct 7, the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAV) reported that 89.1% of the adult population had been fully vaccinated.

The government had said that the interstate travel ban would be lifted once 90% of the adult population had been vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said the government had yet to decide on whether Melaka should be in a state of emergency following the dissolution of its state assembly on Monday.

He said the Cabinet discussed the issue when they met yesterday.

He said they would have to wait until Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah was briefed about the situation by the Attorney General, Health Ministry and Election Commission (EC).

“The Cabinet will wait for the briefing,” he said.

Ismail Sabri was earlier asked by reporters whether a state of emergency would be declared in Melaka to avoid polls as the number of Covid-19 cases reported in the country remained high.

Sultan Nazrin is performing the functions of the King as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong are visiting the United Kingdom.

On Monday, Melaka legislative assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh informed the EC about the dissolution.

Based on Article 19 (4) of the Melaka State Constitution, a state election must be held within 60 days following the dissolution of the state assembly.

The development came after four assemblymen – former Melaka chief minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron (BN-Sungai Udang), Datuk Nor Azman Hassan (BN-Pantai Kundor), Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad (Bersatu-Telok Mas) and Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Independent-Pengkalan Batu) – declared that they had lost confidence in Chief Minister Datuk Sulaiman Md Ali’s leadership, hence causing the state government to collapse.