KUCHING, Oct 20 — Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian expressed disappointment today over the surge in air fares between peninsular Malaysia to Sarawak after the Election Commission (EC) announced the polling day for the 15th general election.
He said the increases could deter Sarawakians working in the peninsula from going back to vote in the general election.
“It is very unfortunate that the state government does not own an airline and you know all those airlines are run by private entities,” he told reporters after attending a Deepavali function here.
“The question is why are the airlines increasing the prices of their tickets?” he asked, adding that it is their national responsibility to keep the airfares low.
Dr Sim, who is also Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president, said there is nothing the Sarawak government can do to reduce the prices of the tickets.
“It is beyond our control unless we own the airlines,” he said.
He hoped newly elected members of parliament from Sarawak would call on the EC to introduce postal voting for Sarawakians residing and working in the peninsula to enable them to vote in future general elections.
He said at present only select groups of people were allowed to cast their votes through postal voting.
“It is up to the MPs to raise this issue in Parliament later,” he said.
Malay Mail reported this afternoon that minutes after the EC announced the polling dates for GE15, Malaysians reported seeing surges in the prices of flight tickets during the election weekend.
