KUCHING: Civil society groups in Sarawak are calling on the Election Commission (EC) to come up with standard operating procedures (SOP) for the next state election to be held safely once the state legislative assembly is dissolved. However, she said the EC should speed up its preparations for the state to face an election safely if the pandemic continues. "This can include planning and adopting robust absentee voting mechanisms to reduce voter movement, such as postal voting and advance voting. Teo also expressed concern over the concentration of power in the executive during the Emergency as the state legislature's sittings were suspended. Siah also cautioned that prolonging the Emergency would give the ruling coalition "unfettered powers" over the state.

Source: The Star May 26, 2021 07:07 UTC