Where’s the sense of urgency?

 

From Murugesan Sinnandavar

The number of daily Covid-19 cases surpassed the 20,000 mark yesterday. It was also the day on which the number of cumulative deaths went beyond 10,000.

Alarm bells should have gone off. But they didn’t. Not with the government at least.

On this very day, the government announced the appointment of Ahmad Faizal Azumu as a special adviser to the prime minister with ministerial status. The PM also said he is going to make an announcement soon about the relaxation of SOPs for those who have been fully vaccinated.

Where is the urgency and focus in combating the pandemic here? What is the message that is being sent? Business as usual? Things are under control?

Quite frankly, people wouldn’t have been bothered as to who is in power if the present government had done a decent job in fighting this pandemic.

Firstly, the government advised the King to declare Emergency on the excuse that more power was needed to bring Covid-19 under control. The fact that the number of Covid-19 cases multiplied during the Emergency is a testament to the fallacy of this reasoning.

The nett outcome of the Emergency was that Parliament was suspended for six months and, with that, quite possibly the lifespan of this government.

Multiple lockdowns and enhanced movement control orders (EMCOs) were imposed, only for the number of cases to double or triple. People’s sacrifices in losing income and facing hardship had all come to nought.

Most businesses remain closed. Some, probably forever.

Going by news reports, cases of depression and suicides have shot up to an unprecedented level.

Foreign investors have repeatedly warned about their lack of confidence in continuing their investments in this country.

We are in a terrible place right now.

The only silver lining is the vaccination process that is going on full swing, thanks to the single-minded focus of the minister in charge, Khairy Jamaluddin. We don’t see the same focus and urgency in the rest of his team. Even here, some would argue that this push should have started earlier.

Two days back, all the ministers were huddled up at the PM’s residence until 2am. Presumably to strategise on how to overcome the withdrawal of support by eight Umno MPs.

The next day, the PM triumphantly announced that he has a majority. Today the deputy PM, together with 30 other BN MPs, stood in solidarity with the government.

Why can’t our ministers show this same urgency in combating Covid-19?

The PM further announced that he is ready to face a vote of no confidence in Parliament in September.

Again, where is the urgency?

Assuming he has the majority, shouldn’t he call for a vote in the House as soon as possible so that he can fully focus on combating this pandemic? It will silence calls for his resignation for once and for all.

In the event he doesn’t have the majority, with the Covid-19 raging unabated, wouldn’t it be better for him to have less blood on his hands, so to speak?

In dragging their feet, the PM and his Cabinet are dragging the entire country down with them.

Please, show some urgency in matters of the state. - FMT

Murugesan Sinnandavar is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.