Kit Siang: Special Parliament sitting not to test Muhyiddin's confidence

 

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said there will not be attempts to initiate a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin if the Yang di-Pertuan Agong consents to a special Parliament sitting during the current state of emergency.

He said this is because the special sitting will only be on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

"There will be no possibility of any no-confidence motion as the special Parliament is specifically about the Covid-19 pandemic.

"This will enable MPs to play their important role as agents for a belated 'all-of-government' and 'whole-of-society' strategy and approach in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.

Yesterday, Umno had also asked its MPs to support a special Parliament sitting although it was met with some dissent.

Parliament was suspended following a proclamation of emergency on Jan 11 and will last until Aug 1.

Muhyiddin said the emergency was necessary to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic but critics accused him of using the emergency to cling on to power after losing his majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

Lim said the government cannot claim to have an "all-of-government" and "whole-of-society" effort against Covid-19 if it excludes elected representatives.

The Iskandar Puteri MP also noted that while Muhyiddin had given a belated response to the group of 46 doctors who expressed concerns about the country's direction in the fight against the pandemic, the prime minister had yet to implement some of their suggestions.

This includes the formation of a Covid-19 task force comprising a cross-sectoral and empowered team of subject matter experts.

Lim Kit Siang

Lim said Malaysia had been the worst-performing Asian country in the Covid-19 fight for the last two months.

It jumped 25 ranks in terms of the number of Covid-19 cases, surpassing other Asian countries.

"The greatest challenge facing the country today is whether we are capable of formulating and implementing an 'all-of-government' and 'whole-of-society' strategy in the war against the pandemic to unite Malaysians as one people," he said.

Lim said this encompasses the public and private sectors including the private health sector, political parties, NGOs, civil society, small and medium enterprises, corporations, and even investors. - Mkini