KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang has called for an agile and creative solution based on a new national coalition to win the war against Covid-19 pandemic.

He said this is apparent as Malaysia is now in a new political scenario where no party appeared to command a clear majority of support of Members of Parliament.

"With the latest political development following Umno's Supreme Council decision last night to withdraw support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, a new political scenario has  emerged in the country,” Lim said in a statement.

The DAP veteran said it is an unfortunate turn of events, as he believes all energies should be focused on how to build a national coalition to win the war against Covid-19, rather than waging  political warfare.

"We must have a government mindful of the importance of a national coalition to win the war against the pandemic, for this must be the preponderant challenge for all Malaysians.

"The proposed national coalition can take various combinations and permutations, such as  the continuation of the present PN government, which is mindful of the need for an agreed consensus for the coalition to encompass the Executive, Parliament and the various sectors of Malaysian society to win the war against Covid-19,” he said.

Lim added that the other alternative would be a new government with a similar consensus among the Executive, Parliament and the various societal sectors.

"This new government, with representatives from all parties represented in Parliament, must have the overriding objective of forming a national coalition to win the war against the pandemic. As it stands, Covid-19 cases and deaths are surging in Malaysia.

"Unless it is checked, we will exceed a million cases and over 10,000 deaths when we celebrate the 64th anniversary of our National Day on August 31, and over 1.2 million cases with over 11,000 Covid-19 deaths on the 58th anniversary of Malaysia Day on September 16,” he said.

Lim said that now is the time for Malaysians, guided by the Constitution and the Rukun Negara principles of nation-building, to put on their thinking caps and come up with ideas as to how Malaysians can win the war against Covid-19.

"The pandemic poses an existential threat not only to the lives of Malaysians, but also to the Malaysian economy and nation.

"It must be dealt with before more damage is done to the Malaysian economy and society, apart from more deaths and suicides as a result of the pandemic,” he said.