Malaysia senior minister, Johor's caretaker chief minister to be fined for breaching health protocols at BN event
Screenshot from a viral video on social media of a Barisan Nasional event held in Johor on Sunday (Feb 13).
JOHOR BAHRU: Malaysia senior minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Johor's caretaker chief minister Hasni Mohammad are among Barisan Nasional leaders who will be issued fines for attending a political event which breached COVID-19 health protocols.
In a tweet on Sunday afternoon (Feb 23), Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin wrote that he has instructed Health Ministry officers to issue compounds to Mr Hishammuddin, Mr Hasni, President of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) Vigneswaran Sanasee, other key leaders who were present at the event as well as the event's organisers.
The fines will be issued under Act 342, Mr Khairy added. Act 342 is Malaysia's Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act.
"The health ministry will continue to monitor the (adhering of COVID-19) protocols ahead of the Johor state elections," said Mr Khairy, who is also a member of the Barisan Nasional coalition.
Mr Khairy was responding to a tweet by news outlet MalaysiaGazette, which posted a video of the three leaders arriving at the event to launch the MIC Johor Brigade, which was held at EduCity in Kota Iskandar, Johor on Sunday afternoon.
The video showed the leaders walking among a huge crowd with minimal social distancing between attendees.
The Johor state elections will be held on Mar 12 with nominations to take place on Feb 26.
Malaysia’s main opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH), has called for the Johor state polls to be postponed in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
There are 2,597,742 voters who will be eligible to cast their ballot during the state’s election, with the EC targeting a 70 per cent voter turnout.
The country's COVID-19 caseload began to spike from the middle of December when daily cases fluctuated between 2,000 to 3,000, before hitting an upward trend at the end of the month amid the spread of the Omicron variant.
Daily case numbers have recently consistently hit five-figures. On Sunday, Malaysia recorded 21,072 new COVID-19 cases.
