PETALING JAYA: Pundits are hoping the meetings between the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and political party leaders that start today will result in a stable government ruling the country as the nation battles with the surge in Covid-19 cases and economic despair.
Socio-political analyst Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the day started with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin meeting the King, which is the norm before the weekly Cabinet meeting every Wednesday.
But this time, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, DAP’s Lim Guan Eng and Pejuang’s Dr Mahathir Mohamad have also been granted an audience by the King.
“It shows there are efforts by the palace to look into and settle problems faced by the rakyat,” he told FMT.
“The meetings are being held so that positive changes can be implemented.”
Awang Azman said even Selangor’s ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had expressed shock that the state had only received 615,210 Covid-19 vaccine doses as of June 1, which was disproportionate with Selangor’s total population of 6.5 million.
Awang Azman said the country needs a strong government to avoid instability if the emergency ends in August as scheduled.
“What sort of government do we need if the emergency ends by August? Do we keep this government or do we have a new government?”
He added that a mechanism should be put in place so that a secure government runs this country.
Due to that, he said it was a timely move by the King to meet all political party leaders to get their views on the future of the country and on the emergency.
Political analyst Azmi Hassan concurred saying it was also the wish of the rakyat for the King to intervene.
“Malaysians have been expressing hope that the King will come up with a good solution. I can say hopes are high,” he told FMT.
Azmi said the public also wanted Parliament to reconvene to debate issues affecting them and to ensure transparency in the way the government was handling the Covid-19 crisis.
“It’s a good decision to hold these meetings,” he added.
A consultant on political strategies, Syed Arabi Idid, said the meetings were most probably being held by the King to get the views of political leaders before a decision is made on the emergency.
FMT had previously reported that several ministers had been pushing for an extension of the emergency to battle the Covid-19 pandemic. However, other ministers are not keen on this for fear of a backlash from the public when a general election is held. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.