We would've done better without emergency, Kit Siang tells Muhyiddin

 

Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang has disputed former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin's justification of the national emergency that took place from January to August last year by stating that the Covid-19 pandemic was "worse than war". 

Lim said the emergency undermined checks and balances and saw the Covid-19 pandemic in the country dramatically worsen.

"I am shocked that former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin (above) is still trying to justify the declaration of emergency on Jan 11, 2021, which completely undermined parliamentary oversight of the government in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic until the month of August and made Malaysia one of the worst-performing nations in the world in the two-year battle with the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Malaysia would have performed better in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic if an emergency had not been declared on Jan 11 last year," he said in a statement.

Lim pointed out that when the emergency was declared, there were 2,232 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths on that day.

Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang

"On Aug 1, 2021, the last day of the Covid-19 emergency, daily new Covid-19 cases rose to 17,150 cases, an increase of more than eight times, and daily Covid-19 deaths increased to 160 deaths, an increase of 40 times, from the day the emergency was declared.

"What type of an emergency to fight to Covid-19 pandemic was this?" he asked.

Lim suggested the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Health, Science and Innovation investigate how the emergency had undermined the country's war against Covid-19.

Muhyiddin, in an interview with Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National, said the expanded powers that came with the emergency were "very important" to manage the pandemic.

"People said these emergency laws were like being at war, but I told them this was worse than a war," he had said. - Mkini