Emergency response: Khairy looking at a demonstration after launching a disaster management seminar and book in Kuala Lumpur. — SS KANESAN/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians down with Covid-19 and under home surveillance will be allowed to come out to vote on polling day, says caretaker Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
“Those who are Covid-19 positive and those undergoing isolation at home, meaning those who are not critical in the hospital and so on, can vote.”
This would be done through a special arrangement with the Election Commission (EC), which would make a detailed announcement soon on the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the 15th General Election, he said.
“I have thought about this issue deeply. Their right to vote is very important.
“We have made our recommendation to the EC, that more relaxation is given to candidates and voters in this general election, which had not been allowed during the Johor state election earlier,” he said after launching a disaster management seminar and a book titled An Overview of Disaster Life Support in Disaster Management here yesterday.
Based on the ministry’s recommendation, Khairy said non-serious Covid-19 positive voters could be given a special pathway and a different polling station or camp.
“We will have a certain SOP for them, which means that when they enter, they have to identify themselves at the EC registration counter and have to wear a face mask.
“These Covid-19 patients could be given a separate tent or registration site. And they may be able to leave the polling location more swiftly after they have voted,” he added.
He said the procedure would be very clear so that everybody’s health was protected “and at the same time, we will also be able to respect every citizen’s constitutional rights”.
Khairy said the SOP was aimed at making GE15 a Covid-19-safe general election.
“If we see from the experience in the Johor state election, there were many restrictions – there could not be large-scale gatherings then.
“But that was before we entered the transition phase and before the Covid-19 situation became under control in Malaysia.”
To a question, Khairy maintained that the tabling of Budget 2023 last Friday had not been “in vain” despite Parliament being dissolved now.
“I don’t think that the Budget presentation was in vain because it is a commitment from the Prime Minister on what will be brought back to the Dewan Rakyat after the general election, if the mandate is given.
“Second, everything in the Finance Minister’s Budget presentation is allocated expenditure. It was not a manifesto based on unallocated promises,” he said.
Khairy also said that 1,462 health personnel comprising counsellors and psychologists would be stationed at evacuation centres in preparation for flash floods during the monsoon season.
He said that providing such mental health support was “something new”, adding that they would be part of the ministry’s 11,085 public health personnel who had been identified to help flood victims at temporary evacuation centres throughout the country.
The ministry also has a total of 4,263 personnel – 1,820 under the Rapid Assessment Team and 2,443 under the Rapid Response Team – who would carry out rapid assessment and response to victims or issues involving disasters, he added.
Khairy said the ministry would also be monitoring medicines on a weekly basis to ensure that the supply was always sufficient.
The ministry would also coordinate the mobilisation of medicine stocks during floods for drugs that were in short supply, he added.
