FORMER Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng urged the Government to take responsibility over the soaring number of COVID-19 cases instead of blaming citizens.
“The Government should stop shifting the blame to the rakyat for not complying with the COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) but take full responsibility.
“The Prime Minister and ministers can be replaced. Only lives and livelihoods are irreplaceable,” he said, in a series of tweets.
Yesterday, daily COVID-19 tally breached the 9,000 mark, bringing the cumulative total of Malaysians infected to over 800,000.
Fatalities are nearing the 6,000 mark, with hospitals are getting overwhelmed due to the sheer number of cases.
While the nation is undergoing a public health crisis, the Perikatan Nasional Government main partners, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Umno are at odds with one another, with the latter pulling support from Prime Minister Tan Sri Mahiaddin Yassin.
This came after Mahiaddin promoted Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to become deputy prime minister while Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was given a senior minister rank.
On that note, Lim questioned the Government on whether the country can really achieve herd immunity soon through the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK), given the current numbers.
He added that on June 1, the positivity rate was 7.04%. However, on July 9, the positivity rate was at 9.42%, far above World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of 5%.
“The Government must adopt a targeted movement control order (MCO) approach relying on science and data. This must be based on the WHO’s proven success of adopting mass screenings to ‘test, trace, isolate and treat’,” Lim opined.
The Bagan MP also lashed out the Government for rewarding failed ministers with promotions, adding it was sending a wrong message to an already frustrated rakyat.
“Our best chance now is a swift and smooth vaccination programme to win the war against COVID-19.
“And public anger against the whole-of-government failure is real, as can be seen in the social media and the spontaneous black flag campaign by the society at large asking the Perikatan Government to resign,” Lim remarked. – July 10, 2021.
