Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said this was necessary to curb the spread of Covid-19.

“The ban will be enforced from Monday (Oct 25) until Nov 27,” he said in a statement.

The Melaka election will be held on Nov 20.

Nominations have been fixed for Nov 8.

Khairy said that any social events or gatherings that did not adhere to SOPs would increase the spread of Covid-19.

“We expected there to be mass gatherings in Melaka after the Election Commission (EC) announced the polling date.

“The ban on public gatherings is in line with the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2021.

“The by-law says that ‘no person shall gather or be involved in any gathering in any premises within any infected local area, whether for religious, sports, recreational, social or cultural purpose’.”

Khairy said anyone who organised these public events would be slapped with compound fines or may face charges in court.

Earlier today, Muar MP and former youth and sport minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman retweeted a video showing former prime minister Najib Razak attending an event in Melaka.

It was seen that some of the participants were not wearing masks and were seated close to one another.

Syed Saddiq questioned whether such programmes were allowed at a hall without social distancing.

“Are the ‘elites’ exempted (from observing SOPs)?” he asked.

Besides Najib, PKR vice-president Tian Chua was also seen giving talks to Pakatan Harapan’s Melaka supporters yesterday.

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