COMMENT | Earlier this week, social media was abuzz when images and videos began streaming online of the official launch of the BN election machinery for the Malacca state elections.

The event was attended by top Umno leaders such as party president Zahid Hamidi, deputy president Mohamad Hasan, and former prime minister Najib Razak, along with the party’s Malacca state leadership.

It was held in the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTC KL), in the nation’s capital.

There is nothing extraordinary about an event to launch election machinery close to an election. All political parties have such events, although BN’s machinery launch is usually a full-blown affair attended by crowds of supporters.

Yet this particular event attracted attention because a few days before the event, Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin issued a statement that purports to ban ‘any election-related gatherings or social activities’ from...