YOURSAY | Minister’s SOP violations: PM misses the point

 

YOURSAY | ‘Any law by Parliament, if violated, is a crime.’

PM: Compounded offence not a crime, no need for minister to resign

Dr Raman Letchumanan: Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is defending Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, saying the latter does not need to resign after receiving a fine for violating Covid-19 protocols at an MIC event recently.

Ismail Sabri also said if everyone had to resign for receiving such fines, then no one will be available for work.

My dear PM, are you implying everyone in the administration has broken the law one time or another, that no one would be eligible to take office if they had to resign for the offence?

I am also not sure of your definition of a crime. Any law by Parliament, if violated, is a crime. In this case, the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), popularly known to the public due to the raging pandemic the last two years, is violated.

The penalty may vary - a fine (compound included) or jail term. Just because it is compounded, it is not a crime or an offence?

In fact, Section 24 of the Act provides a jail term of up to five years, but Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin instructed his director-general to impose a compound of RM1,000.

This is a blatant transgression by the administration itself coming on the heels of a severe health warning to the public on the latest wave of the Omicron variant. Why were the offenders not investigated under Section 24?

Just because by imposing a self-serving compound of RM1,000, the pandemic warning becomes meaningless. Would this 'standard' be upheld for future large gatherings henceforth?

Moreover, this offence was committed by a minister tasked to implement Act 342. The rakyat are harassed, hounded, jailed and fined, but for those in power, the government defends them, if at all publicly caught.

OCT: Ismail Sabri missed the most important point for his ministers. It is about discipline and leadership by example.

If Hisham is a first offender, it may be excusable, but Hisham is a repeat offender of SOP violations. As a senior minister, he should know what is right or wrong.

When the police raided an entertainment outlet, they imposed a heavy fine up to hundreds of thousands of ringgit. In the Hisham case, there were police around but none of them dared to fine him for violating SOPs.

Ismail Sabri is showing favouritism. What he said gives the impression that he is being unfair, uncouth and has no integrity in having a team of honest ministers who can follow the law.

The rakyat are always penalised to the full while his VVIP buddies are let off with a mere slap on the wrist. If a minister cannot obey his own rules, then there is no reason for him to be a minister at all. Full stop.

Fair&Unbiased: Indeed, Hisham heads the team that sets the SOPs for the whole country. He had now shamefully breached it and gets away with a slap on the wrist.

How do you expect the rest of the country to observe and respect these SOPs set by the very same person who doesn't give a damn about the rules?

Double standards as always - one set of rules for the man on the street and another set for the prime minister and his merry men.

The Realist: I agree. If the government ministers will not respect the SOPs, then on what authority the government has to ask the people to follow them?

Ismail Sabri probably has not heard of ethics and integrity as important criteria to lead people. The court clusters are still running around senior ministers are not respecting rules.

Politics trumps everything in Malaysia, I guess. How do you expect people to respect and support such leaders?

BobbyO: Ismail Sabri, enjoy the short stay as prime minister as you have proven to be a weak leader. Wrong is wrong.

All over the world, there have been many ministers and government officials who resign from their position for violating Covid restrictions.

Anyway, once the Johor state election is over and if Umno wins big, your president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will be gunning for your position.

MarioT: When a senior representative of the government, openly and blatantly abuses the very laws formulated by its own authority, then he is definitely not eligible to hold that position any longer and should therefore, resign.

A prime minister who condones such abuses of power is just as guilty as the violator.

Finding excuses rather than reprimanding such actions, only goes to show the two-tier rule of laws that exist. If fined, then the amount should be a hefty one.

GreenTurtle6724: If it’s not a crime, what is it? An offence? It's a matter of interpretation: What is the difference between a crime and an offence?

The law makes no difference between ‘crime’ and ‘offence’ and, in fact, terms violation of penal laws as the definition of an offence. An act or behaviour that does not break a law is not an offence.

However, a crime is always a violation of the law. So, a violation of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease Act 1998 (Act 342) is, therefore, a crime, no?

Wonglo: It is not a question whether it was a crime. It is a matter of responsibility.

As the senior minister tasked for the management of the pandemic, he cannot be seen to have so blatantly flouted the rules and acted contrastingly to the responsibilities that he is entrusted, whatever the circumstances.

The petty RM1,000 compound is most definitely inadequate.

Xenobio: You can't expect the public to obey the law if government ministers normalise wrongdoing.

This is picking nits off split hairs of angels dancing on a pinhead. Maybe it's not a "crime" in the strict sense of the word. But they violated regulations set by the government. That's okay?

Humans are highly motivated by a sense of fairness and one big reason no one trusts this government is that it's blatantly unfair. - Mkini