With disappointing Cabinet, govt’s CSRA with PH is even more critical, says Kit Siang

 

Malaysia is expected to pass the 1.7 million mark for cumulative Covid-19 cases before Merdeka Day, says Lim Kit Siang.

PETALING JAYA: DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang claims Malaysians will mark “the bleakest and grimmest 64th National Day in the nation’s history”, giving three personal reasons why this is so.

Firstly, the Iskandar Puteri MP cited Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s new Cabinet that was announced yesterday, which he said had been assailed by all quarters as “Kerajaan Gagal 2.0”.

He said this had also raised the question of whether Pakatan Harapan (PH) and other opposition parties should embark on a Confidence-Supply-Reform Agreement (CSRA) with Ismail’s government to save the nation.

However, Lim said with the new Cabinet in place, it simply strengthens the argument for a CSRA to free the country from a political maelstrom for the next 12 to 18 months.

Lim Kit Siang.

“This is to single-mindedly focus on turning the tide to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic with its high death toll to return Malaysia to normality, so that we can embark on economic and national recovery,” he said in a statement today.

Lim said his “Malaysian Dream” for Malaysia to be a world-class and great nation will have to wait, as the latest statistics show 15,550 people have died of Covid-19.

He said the country now has a cumulative 1,662,913 Covid-19 cases, a peak of 265,695 active cases with 982 ICU patients and 470 patients under intubation.

“We owe it to all Malaysians and future generations, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to put all differences aside to unite to fight this existential threat to win the war against Covid-19 so that we can return to normality and embark on economic and national recovery.

“Let us rise above divisive politics for the next 12 to 18 months so that we can win the war on the pandemic before the mandate is returned to Malaysians to elect the government of their choice.”

Lim said the second reason for a bleak Merdeka Day was that Malaysia is expected to fail two critical tests, that is to avoid passing the 1.7 million mark for cumulative Covid-19 cases and the 16,000 mark for cumulative deaths come Aug 31.

He said Malaysia is ranked 23rd among nations with the most cumulative Covid-19 cases.

“In fact, at the present rate of infections and deaths, we are likely to pass the two grim milestones for cumulative total of Covid-19 cases and deaths tomorrow,” he said.

The third reason, he said, is that the nation has fallen to the bottom of Bloomberg’s monthly Covid-19 Resilience Ranking of 53 economies of more than US$200 billion.

The ranking was launched in November last year and is updated monthly ever since.

“Malaysia’s best ranking was 16 out of 53 countries in January 2021 but fell to 35 by May, 51 in June, 52 in July and now 53 in August.

“In contrast, Singapore was ranked 11 last November and is now 8 in August,” Lim said. - FMT