Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing said former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin has no one but himself to blame for coming up with a purportedly defective “generational endgame” (GEG) bill.
In a statement, he said Khairy tabled a bill in July 2022 that was “unconstitutional” and “unenforceable”. The Health Ministry has hitherto not made such a position.
He said the bill was drafted in a rush and contained many weaknesses, which would cause other problems if passed.
“Who will be blamed? Ironically, during (Khairy’s) stint as health minister, apart from seeking popularity and sprucing up his image, what has (Khairy) done for the public health system?
“He should not be pointing fingers at (the present crop of) ministers, including myself, for the failure to pass the GEG bill,” Tiong (above) said.
He said that at the time the bill was tabled, he asked Khairy to show proof in Parliament to back the latter’s claim that the B40 group were the majority affected by cancer, heart disease, and lung diseases due to smoking.
“The truth is, many cancer patients do not smoke or are affected by second-hand smoke... How will their experience with cancer be explained?” asked Tiong.
He also argued that the bill was overly punitive, and suggested that education and awareness were the best ways to discourage smoking.
The bill in question is known as the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023, which among others contained provisions to ban anyone born after 2007 from buying and consuming tobacco and vape products - which is now commonly known as the GEG.
Yesterday, Khairy blamed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said, Tiong, and an individual he called “the gaffer" - most likely a reference to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim - for ostensibly blocking the bill.
His comments came following a report by health watchdog CodeBlue which claimed the GEG bill hit a snag in the cabinet last Friday after being advised by Attorney-General Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh that the GEG provisions in the bill were “unconstitutional” because they violated Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which guaranteed equality before the law.
“To (the Attorney-General’s Chambers), there will be two sets of laws for two different groups of citizens based on age,” a source told CodeBlue.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.