Share details of MCO exit plan with public, don't be like UK - Kit Siang to PM

CORONAVIRUS | Lim Kit Siang has urged Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to hold a live telecast to share details of the government's exit plan when the movement control order (MCO) is lifted in phases, especially since there are signs of the Covid-19 infection curve flattening.

He said the world needs to accept the reality that it has to learn to live with the Covid-19 disease for the next 12 to 24 months until an effective vaccine is developed and widely available as “no country can survive an economic lockdown for a year, let alone two.”

“With signs of the (Covid-19) curve flattening, it is essential that the government starts preparing for the best exit strategy from the MCO.

“I call on the PM to have a live telecast to share the government’s exit plan when the MCO is lifted in phases.

“The world must live through a phased lifting of the various forms of lockdowns imposed in various countries… to allow for the resumption of economic activities, but nations must be flexible and nimble enough to reimpose a partial or full lockdown if there is a Covid-19 resurgence threatening mass deaths,” he added in a statement today.

As such, the DAP veteran said, parliament must meet to specifically address the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the “twin public health and economic crisis” it has created for Malaysians.

“A special parliament (session) on the Covid-19 pandemic should be an important plank of the exit strategy to phase out the MCO restrictions in Malaysia,” he added.

The Iskandar Puteri MP pointed out that various state assemblies have met and questioned why parliament is being “emasculated and marginalised”.

Lim also asked whether there have been extensive discussions and consultations with civil societies and various sectors of the economy on the best exit strategy for Malaysia.

“Let us not be like the UK where a leading UK newspaper reported in blazing headlines 'UK government has no exit plan for Covid-19 lockdown'.

“We do not want to have a situation as in the UK where different ministers are working out their own exit plans in the absence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is recovering from Covid-19,” he added.

Instead, Lim pointed to South Korea as an example to follow.

South Korea had the highest number of Covid-19 cases outside of China at the end of February, he said, but without any lockdown, they managed to bring the outbreak under control with mass testing and meticulous contact tracing while practising full transparency.

Today, South Korea has 10,613 cases and 229 deaths.

The country also held its national elections two days ago and more than 29 million people, about 66.2 percent of the electorate, and the highest turnout since 1992, came out to vote.

“South Korea has become a model for how a democratic society can weather the storm of a pandemic as nobody felt that they had to choose between exercising their democratic rights and protecting their health,” said Lim.

Malaysia is currently in the third phase of its MCO which is expected to end on April 28.

Parliament was supposed to have its first sitting of the year in March but was postponed after the Pakatan Harapan government collapsed and the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) government was formed.

The Dewan Rakyat session is expected to start on May 18. - Mkini