PAGOH – Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar rubbished the claims of opposition who alleged that the government did not allow the Singapore voters to return to Johor and cast their votes.
According to the Minister of Health, the decision to open state borders requires the cooperation from Singapore.
“There were statements yesterday from the opposition saying why can’t we open the borders earlier?
“The opening of land borders with Singapore must get the joint-agreement between the two countries. There is no use for us to open our own borders because Singapore needs to open theirs too.
“At the moment, they are not ready to open their land borders yet,” he told the media after the walkabout session with the candidate from Barisan Nasional (BN) for the Bukit Kepong state assembly seat, Ismail Mohamad at FELCRA Bukit Kepong today, answering the accusation from the opposition.
The opposition questioned the government’s decision for only opening the national borders from 1 April onwards and not before the Johor state election on 12 March.
Khairy said, all decisions on the reopening of borders require the decision from Putrajaya and Singapore as it is not a single-sided decision.
“Even on 1 April, I am still negotiation with Singapore, so, please do not make accusations as if we refuse to reopen the borders due to the Johor election.
“Perhaps, the people who make such accusation did not understand what they were talking about,” he added.
Yesterday, the Opposition Chief, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim questioned the government’s decision for only reopening the national borders on 1 April 2022 and not earlier, before the Johor state election on 12 March.
The President of PKR alleged that the movement proved that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob is not confident that the voters outside would choose Barisan Nasional (BN). – MalaysiaGazette
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