PETALING JAYA • With election fever building up in the state of Melaka, Malaysia's Health Ministry has issued a ban on political gatherings in the state from today to Nov 27 over Covid-19 concerns.

The decision, however, was slammed by both Umno and opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH), which decried it as unfair and will deprive them from reaching out to voters on a personal level.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said yesterday that while there will be election-related protocols for the upcoming polls, they will take effect only during the campaigning period from Nov 8.

Nomination day for the Melaka election will be on Nov 8, with polling day set for Nov 20. The Health Ministry is concerned there will be plenty of mass gatherings before that.

"As Melaka is in phase four (of the National Recovery Plan), social gatherings are allowed according to the National Security Council's SOPs (standard operating procedures). However, as can be seen by recent gatherings, political parties (including mine) cannot observe SOPs," said Mr Khairy, who is a member of Umno.

"With the announcement of the Melaka state election, the ministry expects many social events related to the election will be held and will involve mass gatherings of individuals.

"As the risk of transmission of Covid-19 remains high, especially with the transmission of the Delta variant in the community and the growing number of new cases reported, these political activities will only further increase the likelihood of more infection outbreaks," said Mr Khairy.

The ban will be made under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), which states that there should not be any mass gatherings of people under any phase of the National Recovery Plan.

Mr Khairy said any individual, organiser or organisation can be subject to fines or prosecution in court if they are found guilty of committing offences under Act 342.

His statement came in the light of viral videos and photos of political gatherings related to the Melaka election. The elections were called after the state assembly was dissolved on Oct 5, following the collapse of the Umno-led state government.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have both expressed their concerns about holding the polls amid the pandemic, which has just shown signs of easing in the country. Malaysia recorded 5,666 new cases yesterday, a slight dip from Saturday's 5,828 cases.

The last statewide elections in Malaysia took place in Sabah in September last year, and caused a surge of Covid-19 cases that never really abated, undoing the country's early success in containing the virus.

Reacting to the ban, Melaka Umno deputy chief Mohamad Ali Mohamad said yesterday the move is not democratic. "If the government can permit schools and shopping malls to open, and can even allow people to go for recreational activities, why are political parties being banned from campaigning?" he told news site Free Malaysia Today.

The Democratic Action Party's (DAP) election director Khoo Poay Tiong said the ban will put PH at a disadvantage and, as a result, PH will focus its campaign online.

Political pundits say the election will likely see a clash between major political parties to win rural and Malay votes in a bid to recapture the state. Analysts also pointed out that the outcome of the polls would indicate how the Malays will vote in the next general election.

Universiti Putra Malaysia's political analyst Jayum Jawan said Melaka would be an interesting test case following the downfall of Umno as the dominant Malay political party in the 2018 general election, with many states also going to its opponents.

"Is there going to be any consolidation of Malay political support and therefore the re-emergence of Malay political dominance?" he asked. "This will be reflected in the coming state election, although Melaka might not be representative of the whole of the peninsula."

Professor Jayum noted that the Malays would have a choice of either returning power to Umno or shifting their support to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and its allies under Perikatan Nasional (PN).

As for the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), he said it might benefit from Chinese votes by being affiliated with the DAP under PH.

International Islamic University political analyst Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod also expected Malay support to be split due to the expected three-cornered fights.

"It will also be interesting to see the internal fights within Umno and the candidates selected to contest seats the party previously lost," he said.

Under PN, he said, it appeared Bersatu, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and Gerakan would likely divide the seat allocation using a 10:10:8 formula. The state has 28 seats up for grabs.

Prof Nik Ahmad said Umno would likely retain the Malay majority seats where it had strong grassroots support. "However, if PKR comes in and further divides the Malay votes in certain mixed seats, the outcome may differ," he said.

Another analyst, Dr Mohd Akbal Abdullah, was of the view that it would be hard for new faces to secure the traditional seats of Umno and DAP. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

TRANSMISSION RISK

As Melaka is in phase four (of the National Recovery Plan), social gatherings are allowed according to the National Security Council's SOPs (standard operating procedures). However, as can be seen by recent gatherings, political parties (including mine) cannot observe SOPs.

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HEALTH MINISTER KHAIRY JAMALUDDIN, on the likelihood of mass gatherings taking place.