KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 8): In the midst of heightened political uncertainty, Malaysia requires imaginative and flexible solutions based on a national coalition to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, which is the “preponderant” threat facing all Malaysians, according to veteran politician Lim Kit Siang. According to Kit Siang, a member of Parliament from Iskandar Puteri, the goal of the pandemic fight should shift from zero tolerance to coexistence with the coronavirus.
The DAP committee member stated in a statement today that the “invisible but devastating struggle” against the disease will go on for a long time, with doctors forecasting it will take at least two to three years before life returns to pre-pandemic normalcy.
However, Kit Siang believes that a new political landscape has evolved as a result of the UMNO Supreme Council’s decision yesterday night to withdraw support for the Perikatan Nasional government.
“This is unfortunate because all energies should be focused on building a national coalition to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic rather than waging political warfare. “However, we are in a new political scenario where no one appears to be able to command a clear majority of support from members of Parliament, and this necessitates an agile and creative solution based on national cohesion.”
As a result, he suggests the following options:
1. Keep the current administration in place, but with an eye toward forming a national coalition involving the executive, Parliament, and various segments of Malaysian society to combat the pandemic.
2. A new administration that has reached an agreement on a national coalition that includes the executive, the legislature, and other segments of Malaysian society.
3. A new government in which all political parties are represented in Parliament.
“Now is the time for Malaysians to put on their thinking caps and come up with ideas on how to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic, guided by the Malaysian Constitution and the five Rukun Negara principles of nation-building,” he said.
Malaysia’s lost struggle against the pandemic, according to Kit Siang, is highlighted by yesterday’s Covid-19 figures, as well as the “three failures of the emergency” — specifically the twice-extended lockdowns and the National Recovery Plan.
“Malaysia registered a rolling daily average of 6,830 Covid-19 new cases in the first seven days of July, when we should have reached the threshold of less than 4,000 cases on June 28, and the question on many people’s minds is when the ‘total lockdown’ will be lifted as it has proven to be a total failure,” he added.
In the first seven days of July, there were 47,811 cases of Covid-19 and 598 deaths.
Malaysia reported a total of 135,992 Covid-19 cases and 551 Covid-19 deaths before the emergency was proclaimed on January 11, 2021.
“Now, Malaysia has a total of 799,790 Covid-19 cases and 5,768 Covid-19 deaths, implying that there were 663,798 Covid-19 cases and 5,219 Covid-19 deaths during the six-month emergency. “This must be the world’s most failed emergency, as the total number of Covid-19 cases in six months increased by six times the total number of Covid-19 cases in the previous 12 months; and the total number of Covid-19 cases in six months increased by “he stated
He warned that if the crisis is not addressed, Malaysia might see more than a million infections and 10,000 deaths by National Day on August 31, and more than 1.2 million illnesses and more than 11,000 deaths by Malaysia Day on September 16./n
