KOTA KINABALU: The United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) has proposed the establishment of a Federal-State Council for the recovery of people's health and the nation's economy.
The proposal was among several motions that the party hoped would be debated in the coming Dewan Rakyat sitting between Sept 6 and 30.
Its president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said the proposed motions had been sent to the Dewan Rakyat's secretary on Aug 19.
"This proposal was made with awareness and considering the people's suffering from Covid-19 who lost their loved ones and source of income, as well as the current education system which had made it difficult to continue learning and teaching," said Madius during a virtual press conference today.
He hoped the motion could resolve the various problems and confusion in implementing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) amongst the federal government, state government, local government, and regulations at the village level.
He said the motion also stemmed from the lack of voice among the opposition and state governments in the National Security Council (NSC) to form an effective cross-party and cross-government consensus to address the recovery of the economy and people's health.
"We hope the Dewan Rakyat will agree to our proposal to establish the Federal-State Council for the recovery of the economy and people's health. The council should be chaired by the Prime Minister and the opposition leader as deputy chairman," Madius suggested.
Among others, he said the council should comprise three groups of people. First, the Defence Minister, the Health Minister, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister; International Trade and Industry Minister; Home Affairs Minister; Tourism Minister; Education Minister; and the Minister of Sabah and Sarawak Affairs.
The second group should be the opposition MPs to reflect the party diversity and in equal numbers, and third, all the chief ministers and Menteris Besar from the 13 states, he said.
Besides that, he said the council should welcome the input of the professionals and experts from the economic, medical and education sectors along with the top leadership of the civil service, the military and the police.
"The council should meet weekly before the Cabinet meeting to receive reports and take action on matters such as unemployment, business closures, infections, hospitalisations and deaths because of Covid-19, vaccination performance of the people, implementation of SOPs, school conditions and performance of key sectors of the economy," he suggested.
He also pointed out that the centralisation of powers in health and public health under the ninth schedule of the Federal Constitution has prevented the state governments from making greater contributions in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, he said it is important for all parties to accept the views and support from the chief ministers and menteris besar, opposition parties' senior leaders, experts in the community, professionals and private sectors to assist the federal ministers, the top leadership of the civil service, the military and the police in making policies and an inclusive SOPs.
Meanwhile, Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed Fadzil who also took part in the virtual press conference proposed for the federal government to emulate the measures taken by the Sarawak government which focused on a hybrid approach of reaching out to the people through mobile services to visit longhouses instead of focusing on mega vaccination administration centres (PPVs).
The PKR communication director said opposition parties needed to bring their strength together to consider the motion proposed by Upko.
He said elected representatives were looking forward to seeing the reformation in the new administration by giving more time to the opposition and independent block to debate the motions of public interest. This is the function of the
Dewan Rakyat which is to let the voices and aspirations of the people be heard. - NST
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