Johor Polls Campaigning While Covid 19 Positive

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JOHOR POLLS | In the face of a state polls that will define the national political alignment in the next general election, Johor polls candidates are in one of their most important battles yet.
But their most powerful threat is not their political rivals but Covid-19 which could put them out of action for almost half of the campaign period.
One such candidate is PKR's Naim Jusri, who is contesting in the state seat of Gambir.
The campaign in the seat is crucial due to its symbolic nature as Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin is the incumbent.
Although Muhyiddin is not contesting in this state election, he is the general seeking to seal PN as a major coalition player in Malaysian politics and not a fleeting political phenomenon that critics say won't last beyond the next general election.
It was a heavy responsibility that Naim was prepared to shoulder but he was taken out of action on the very day the campaign kicked off on Feb 26.
Naim, who turned up at the Gambir nomination centre was tested positive for Covid-19. He was still allowed to file his nomination papers and became an official candidate through his proposer.
Not giving up
Naim, speaking to Malaysiakini via phone, conceded that he was now being handicapped but isn't giving up.
"It is not a good circumstance right now but my work still goes on," he said.
Naim has resorted to digital campaigning although there has been scepticism surrounding the effectiveness due to a lack of personal touch.
Making up for this, Naim also spends a large part of his day making calls to voters to engage them in conversation.
"We are doing phone-banking. After five days, I can go back on the ground to campaign," he said in reference to the quarantine period for Covid-19 patients who have received their booster vaccine shot.
In Naim's absence, his campaign team have gone out canvassing in the constituency.
Challenging campaign
Naim's campaign manager Muhd Hassan tried to maintain optimism about the situation, suggesting that their candidate could better strategise and oversee the campaign operation from home.
However, as he elaborated on the situation, it was apparent that even without their candidate being isolated, they face a challenging campaign due to the restrictive Covid-19 standard operating procedures.
"According to the SOP released by the Election Commisssion, house-to-house campaigning is only limited to five people and walkabout are also limited to five people.
"We need to split into as many teams as possible and bring in volunteers to help," he said.
He added they were also not allowed to speak to people when they distributed flyers.
"SOPs have been tightened. We can’t speak to villagers while we distribute flyers, pamphlets and so on.
"So, we are forced to just leave flyers in voters' post boxes," said Hassan.
Hassan said they have also, among others, made a video of Naim making calls to voters at home which was uploaded on his social media platforms including Instagram.
On Instagram, Naim has slightly more than 1,000 followers and around 2,000 on Facebook.
But as is with the challenge of social media electioneering, they are not location-specific and many may not be actual voters in his constituency.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Naim Jusri (@naimjusri)
Making up for the handicap, other party leaders are also helping the campaign in Naim's absence.
Notable party figures such as Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh and former Machap Jaya state assemblyperson Ginie Lim have also canvassed for Naim in Gambir.
Naim faces BN's Shah Rihan Ghani, PN's Mohd Solihan Badri and Pejuang's Suraya Sulaiman in the Malay-majority seat of Gambir.
Some parties, such as Pejuang, have taken more extreme measures.
The party replaced its announced Endau candidate Zaini Tahar with Mohd Noorhisyam after he was found positive with Covid-19 on the eve of nomination day.
No last-minute replacement
Although for Naim, it may have been too difficult to find a replacement in the one-hour nomination period, after which no new candidates will be accepted.
Since then, another PKR candidate has also been taken out of action from physical campaigning.
Yesterday, PKR's Bukit Batu candidate Chiong Sen Sern confirmed he tested positive for Covid-19 and must go into isolation for five out of the 14 campaign days.
However, Chiong stressed that he is not abandoning the campaign.
"My team will proceed with all the activities that have been planned for the people of Bukit Batu.
"I will continue to the digital campaign online including on Whatsapp, Facebook and other social media channels," he said.
Campaigning for the Johor polls kicked off on Feb 26. Johoreans will go to the polls on March 12. - Mkini

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