"Not Wearing Masks, Shaking Voters' Hands"… Malaysia Faces Election-Triggered Spread Crisis

Daily New Confirmed Cases Rise to 200s Since Early This Month
Impact of Politicians' Local Election Campaigns
Prime Minister's Accountability Grows Despite General Election Victory

[Asia Economy Kuala Lumpur Hong Seong-a, Guest Reporter] In Malaysia, which has resumed economic activities after containing the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), fears of a resurgence of infections are growing due to the recent election. As concerns over the negative economic impact increase, criticism is focusing on the political sphere.

According to local media on the 13th, the daily new confirmed cases, which were around 100 until last month, surged to over 200 from the beginning of this month. On the 6th, the number of new confirmed cases reached 691, the highest daily figure since the outbreak of COVID-19. From the 1st to the 10th of this month, 3,872 new cases were reported. The average daily number of confirmed cases has increased compared to before the lockdown in March.

The reason for the sudden surge in confirmed cases was the election campaign held in the Sabah region in mid-last month. Despite concerns about the resurgence of COVID-19, party members supported the election campaign, and politicians did not comply with standard operating procedures, such as shaking hands with voters or wearing masks. Politicians who finished campaigning were consecutively diagnosed with COVID-19. On Malaysian social media, hashtags criticizing politicians such as '#PoliticiansCreateVirus', '#MinisterCluster', and '#MuhyiddinOut' have surged since early this month.

Criticism of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who was solely focused on the election, has been particularly strong. Muhyiddin was appointed as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia according to the Malaysian constitution at the end of February. Recently, when Anwar Ibrahim, a member of the People's Justice Party (PKR) and considered a candidate for the next prime minister, announced the formation of a new coalition government and gained the support of the majority of lawmakers, Muhyiddin tried to suppress the political challenge.

In this election, the party led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin won. However, criticism that he prioritized his power over the safety of the people was unavoidable. The Malaysian Democratic Alliance pointed out, "Political fights must stop, and the welfare and health of the people should be the top priority," and is conducting a campaign called 'Stop Malaysia.'

Prime Minister Muhyiddin belatedly took response measures. From the 6th, he ordered the closure of 122 schools in Sabah, and from the 7th, announced a conditional lockdown in the Sabah red zone (areas with more than 41 infections). Additionally, travel to Sabah was restricted from the 12th to the 25th. However, quarantine measures for people who visited the region to vote and then returned to West Malaysia have not been properly implemented. The number of registered voters in the Sabah election is about 750,000.

Experts emphasize that if the government does not respond quickly, it will have no choice but to impose another lockdown, and such a situation must be prevented. Calvin Cheng, a researcher at the Malaysian Strategic International Studies Association, warned, "A full lockdown would cause enormous economic and social costs," and said that lockdowns should be the last option.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.