Health ministry bans political gatherings in Melaka for 3 days

This article is more than 12 months old

Oct 25, 2021 06:00 am

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

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said yesterday that while there are standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the state election, they will take effect only during the campaigning period from Nov 8. And the ministry was concerned there would be 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. However, as can be seen by recent gatherings, political parties (including mine) cannot observe SOPs," said Mr Khairy, who is a member of Umno. "In the interest of public health, all political gatherings will now not be allowed in Melaka. - THE STAR