KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) Presidential Council today urged the Election Commission (EC) to allow face-to-face meeting and political gatherings during the upcoming Johor state election.

The council said with 80 per cent of the adult population already fully vaccinated and 30 per cent having received their booster dose, the EC needs to come up with new standard operating procedures (SOP) for the upcoming elections.

“Allow face-to-face interactions for handing out campaign pamphlets from house-to-house and seminars with strict SOPs with a minimum 21 days of campaigning.

“Give fair media access to all parties and equal air time in all media channels including online.

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“The EC should also activate the embassies in Singapore, UK, US and Australia immediately in anticipation of postal votes,” PH presidential council said in a statement today.

On Saturday, the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, consented to the dissolution of the Johor State Legislative Assembly to pave the way for the state election.

Umno leaders from the state have been pushing for the dissolution, saying the party needs a fresh mandate and a stronger majority to avoid being held hostage by their political rivals.

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PH said it would contest the Johor elections with further updates on seat allocation forthcoming.