Irresponsible for PM to ignore Covid-19 health concerns

 

MP SPEAKS | Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has exposed his desperation for his fractious and fragmented Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), comprising Perikatan Nasional (PN)-BN-PBS alliance, to win the coming Sabah state election by promising a snap general election if they succeed.

For Muhyiddin to ignore Covid-19 health concerns and use a snap general election as election bait, to induce Umno to work harder to secure a victory in the Sabah state election, is irresponsible and un-prime ministerial.

The prime minister should not be putting public interest and safety at risk merely to serve his political interest. There is no need to dissolve Parliament and call for a snap election when the opposition bloc comprising of 109 MPs do not want to endanger public health and safety due to the emerging rise in the number of Covid-19 cases.

Many countries in the world, the latest being Britain, are facing a second wave of Covid-19 infections and Malaysia could be similarly affected.

The Sabah state election is forced onto Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal following a dishonest attempt by former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman and backed by Muhyiddin, to form a back-door state government through political frogs hopping over for private interest. To protect the people’s mandate and their right to decide who to form the Sabah state government, Shafie had no choice but to dissolve the state assembly and call for an election.

The only political parties who want an early snap general election in Malaysia is Muafakat Nasional (PAS and Umno) who are part of the government bloc of 113 MPs. However, this has been previously rejected by Muhyiddin due to his deep distrust of Umno over whether they would continue to support him to remain as prime minister. Muhyiddin’s political weakness is proven by his ability to secure the support of only 111 MPs against 109 MPs from the opposition.

GRS remains divided and disunited due to their failure to agree to a common candidate for Sabah chief minister and fighting against each other in 18 state seats. Muhyiddin distributing money and promising projects during the Sabah state election have not had the desired effect, because he is unable to overcome the disunity in a divided GRS.

Putting up Muhyiddin’s poster against Shafie’s poster only highlights GRS lack of a qualified chief ministerial candidate. The clear message is that the Sabah chief minister will be appointed by Muhyiddin, instead of Shafie being elected by Sabah voters to be their chief minister.

In contrast, the Warisan Plus coalition of Warisan, DAP, Upko, PKR and Amanah has displayed remarkable unity and cohesiveness under the sole leadership of Shafie. How then can Sabahans be confident to support GRS and Muhyiddin when both cannot provide the political stability needed in a future Sabah state government?

Finally, Muhyiddin’s election promises to Sabahans sounds hollow when he has still not implemented his promise made in Sandakan on Aug 30 to increase the Social Welfare Department's monthly aid to needy recipients of between RM200 and RM300 to RM1,000. Such an increase to RM1,000 is urgently needed following an admission by the Human Resources minister that the number of unemployed will rise to a historic high of 1 million workers by the end of September.

LIM GUAN ENG is Bagan MP, former finance minister, and former Penang chief minister. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.