KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 ― Veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang today continued to press Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to publicly explain the delay in acting against a member of his Perikatan Nasional (PN) Cabinet who broke the mandatory Covid-19 quarantine in July.

The DAP leader suggested a trust deficit in the PN administration, saying it was demonstrating inequality by going after ordinary offenders and not Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali who did not abide by the 14-day mandatory isolation required of all returnees after his Turkey trip two months ago.

"Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should explain how the Perikatan Nasional government is to be trusted when the police cannot take action against a minister for violating the Covid 19 quarantine SOP?” Lim asked in a statement.

The Iskandar Puteri MP held up Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s reminders to all Malaysians to report those violating the government’s Covid-19 regulations.

He urged the government to stop applying double standards on the Covid-19 SOP, saying "we cannot have one law for Ministers and another law for ordinary citizens”.

Lim also scoffed at the prime minister’s claim that his PN administration has passed its greatest test in the Covid-19 pandemic after commendations from the World Health Organisation for its comparative success in containing the virus infections.

He said the government should not jubilate when Malaysia marked crossing the 10,000 Covid-19 case threshold on September 16, the anniversary of the nation’s founding.

He pointed out that neighbouring Thailand has a lower case count than Malaysia despite being a larger country with a bigger population.

"With a smaller population, Malaysia should have a better record on the Covid-19 epidemic than Thailand,” he said.

Lim said Malaysia’s Covid-19 infections could have been kept lower if there had been no "Sheraton Move” ― the political manoeuvre that led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in February that ushered in the PN alliance under Muhyiddin’s leadership in March.