Kit Siang: Perikatan govt clearly unwilling to work with Opposition to fight war against Covid-19

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang today questioned the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government for its unwillingness to work with Opposition parties in the war against Covid-19 pandemic. 

He said this after two Opposition MPs — DAP MP Hannah Yeoh and PKR MP Chang Lih Kang — raised questions over the presence of Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali at a PN presidential council meeting. 

“The furore over the presence of top civil servants during a virtual meeting of party leaders from the PN government has highlighted the sad fact that a year after the outbreak, we are still a long way to an ‘all-of-government’ and ‘whole-of-society’ strategy and approach in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said in a statement this morning.  

Lim then asked if the responsibility of the Covid-19 outbreak and the Emergency proclamation is the sole concern for the PN government — and Mohd Zuki Ali and the Health Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Chen Chaw Min to brief Opposition leaders on the ongoing plans related to Covid-19. 

“The Opposition parties have shown that they are prepared to work as one team with the government coalition in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic, but where is the response from the government?” he said. 

He added that the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic had been rampaging for the past four months and could have been brought under control earlier with an ‘all-of-government’ and ‘whole-of-society’ strategy and approach.

“When will the Muhyiddin government bestir itself, get its act together and launch an ‘all-of-government’ and ‘whole-of-society’ strategy and approach to bring the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic under control?

“When will Parliament be reconvened to be the centrepiece and platform for such a strategy and approach?” he questioned. 

Yesterday, the health ministry reported 3,346 Covid-19 cases. It is the 11th consecutive day that the new daily Covid-19 infections have passed the 3,000-mark — with three of those days crossing into the 4,000-mark.