After exit, a weary Muhyiddin opens up on a Covid-19 strained govt

 

Muhyiddin Yassin came to power when the country's first major Covid-19 cluster began to spread after a religious gathering in Sri Petaling and when he finally left office 17 months later, the gravity of the pandemic had spiralled to new heights.

Speaking to the editors of mainstream news outlets after tendering his resignation, Muhyiddin noted that his entire tenure had revolved around Covid-19.

"At the time, the issue of Covid-19 was just beginning but I did not even imagine that it has come to this stage.

"In the last 18 months, my government has had a lot of jobs but it's always about Covid-19," he said, describing his government as a "Covid-19 managing cabinet".

Muhyiddin said he was saddened to leave office as he had wanted to complete his task, although he was exhausted by the battle against the pandemic.

"(I'm) sad to the extent I think that I could have done more - if only I am still around as the prime minister.

"I want to finish the whole thing until the very end to see what we have started - we (should) finish completely although (we are) exhausted and very, very tired or weary.

"I, my team and the rest of the civil servants have worked very hard," he told the editors. Malaysiakini has obtained a recording of the meeting.

Muhyiddin said his cabinet had worked continuously, without a break.

Minister Khairy Jamaluddin coordinated the vaccination programme for the Covid-19 pandemic

"None of my cabinet members who are entitled to take leave took any leave. If there was, they were still on call, like doctors.

"I was also on call, not just me, the health director-general was on call, the health minister was on call, Khairy (Jamaluddin) was on call, Ismail (Sabri Yaakob) was on call, Hamzah (Zainuddin) was on call and when we get a call, we know what it is about. The topic is Covid-19," he said.

'Failed govt' untrue

Muhyiddin believes that despite the current Covid-19 situation, his Perikatan Nasional government had done well.

He repeatedly disputed criticism that his government had failed.

"I don't want to be political about it but the #KerajaanGagal has been proven to be untrue... Managing Covid-19 is not easy and I think... we have saved millions of lives.

"As many as a few thousand would die because of that (Covid), it's always things like that that people look at, but maybe people now recognise that we have saved millions of lives.

"Saving lives is about saving the country and we have done - I would say - to the fullest ever," he said.

The Pagoh MP acknowledged that he had not spoken to the press much after becoming prime minister but said there was too much work to do as a result of the pandemic.

"Every minute, lives are at stake. You wait until evening, at 5pm (when Covid-19 data is released), you will know how many people died. In your area, your family, your brother, your sisters..." he said.

PM feels responsible for deaths

As of yesterday, 12,784 people have died from Covid-19. Muhyiddin said he felt responsible for the deaths.

"I feel responsible when I read about the (Covid-19) death cases, suicides. At the end of it, I am in a way responsible and I don't like that sort of thing to be put on my shoulder but as the prime minister, I have to bear it," he said.

Muhyiddin checks out at one of the vaccination sites, two months ago

However, the Pagoh MP said there are signs that the pandemic situation was improving.

"I would believe that it would be written by historians about what we have done for a very short period of time and we are now nearly at a point when things are getting better and better.

"I think this is something nobody can deny," he said.

When Muhyiddin was sworn in as the prime minister on March 1 last year, the country had a total of 33 Covid-19 cases, with 11 of them active.

None had died from the SARS-CoV-2 virus at the time.

Muhyiddin left the office yesterday with a cumulative Covid-19 case of 1,424,649 with 249,277 still active.

As of Aug 15, 45.9 percent of the country’s adult population have been fully vaccinated, according to the special committee for ensuring access to Covid-19 vaccine supply (JKJAV).

A total of 72.9 percent of the adult population have received at least the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

However, this is based on the census figures from 2010 and excludes the undocumented population.

Muhyiddin was forced to resign after 15 Umno MPs withdrew their support for him, leaving him with only 100 MPs left, 11 short of a majority.

There are 220 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat and two vacant seats. - Mkini