Kit Siang repeats assurance won't try to oust PM if Parliament convened

 

Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang reiterated that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin shouldn't be worried about attempts to oust him if he agrees to reconvene Parliament.

Instead, Lim said Parliament should focus on two key agendas - the Covid-19 pandemic and a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on police integrity and professionalism.

"Let all political parties and MPs reach an agreement that during the emergency, there will be no no-confidence motion and Parliament will singly focus on the issue of how to mobilise the nation as one unit to ensure an 'all-of-government' and 'whole-of-society' strategy and approach in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic," he said in a statement.

Citing Bloomberg's Covid-19 Resilience Ranking, Lim said Malaysia was the worst-performing country in East Asia and Southeast Asia, although not as bad as the likes of the US, Brazil and India in terms of total cases.

He added that the third wave of the pandemic which started after the Sabah election in September last year has dragged on for seven months and Malaysia has yet to reduce the daily cases to the triple or double digits region.

"The cabinet today should listen to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to advise him to convene Parliament, especially as the prime minister is the first to be vaccinated, as well as all ministers and MPs," he said.

The DAP supremo said this was to mobilise the whole country as a united force to combat and overcome the Covid-19 pandemic.

The second issue Parliament should address, Lim said, was Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador's claims of a cartel within the police force.

Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador

He said an RCI is necessary to turn the police force into a world-class one. 

"Is the cabinet capable of rising to the historic challenges to address these two grave national issues or will the cabinet prove to be historic failures although it is the biggest cabinet in Malaysian history?" Lim asked.

Parliament remains suspended following the emergency proclamation which came into effect on Jan 11.

The government said it was necessary to combat the Covid-19 pandemic but critics accuse it of trying to cling to power.

Amid pressure to reconvene Parliament, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong said this was possible but that he would act on the advice of the prime minister.

However, the government has been adamant against allowing Parliament to resume. The emergency will expire in August. - Mkini