By Lim Kit Siang
I HAVE said that Malaysians can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel of the 18-month COVID-19 pandemic with the Conference of Rulers special meeting yesterday.
It now allows Malaysia, which has suddenly becoming one of the world’s top worst performing nations in the COVID-19 pandemic while countries which had hogged the world limelight in the first 12 months of the pandemic have turned a corner and doing quite well, especially with their national vaccination rollouts.
The Conference of Rulers special meeting should be an occasion for the country to make a new start in the war against COVID-19 pandemic, which had caused devastating consequences to the life, economy and society of Malaysians, registering a cumulative total of 673,025 COVID-19 cases and 4,142 COVID-19 deaths.
Let me declare my personal position. I support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to become the Prime Minister of Malaysia because I think he is most experienced, competent and qualified to be the leader of a plural Malaysia.
But we have been in the midst of a constitutional impasse for more than year, where no person had been able to command a clear majority in Parliament while the country is faced with an existential health threat.
I believe Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, with the fortuitous incident changing his name on official documents to Mahiaddin Md Yasin, does not command any clear majority in Parliament.
But I think this is a secondary issue and unless there is one person which could demonstrate clearly and convincingly outside Parliament this clear-cut parliamentary majority for him to become the Prime Minister, this issue must be subordinated to the existential threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This new start for the nation has been provided by the Conference of Rulers special meeting yesterday and it should not be used by any political quarter to justify their position on the political situation in the country.
Let the two positions of the Conference of Rulers special meeting yesterday that Parliament and the State Assemblies should be convened as soon as possible and that there is no need for the emergency to extend beyond Aug 1.
I therefore propose a one-year political moratorium which can be extended to two years where there is only one national priority – to win the war against the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure that the fatalities do not exceed 5,000 deaths.
I reiterate my call to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Takiyuddin Hassan not to be obstinate or obstructive but to fully co-operate to convene Parliament and the various State Assemblies before Aug 1, 2021 as this is a clear-cut intention of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers.
The stand of the Speaker, Azhar Azizan Harun, defending the timeline set by the Prime Minister for the convening of Parliament is most unfortunate and disappointing.
I call for an emergency Cabinet meeting to act on the decisions of the Conference of Rulers special meeting yesterday so that Parliament could comply with the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders and convene on Monday, July 19, 2021.
Meanwhile the various Parliamentary Select Committees should be able to function effectively.
In fact, there should be a reform and new vision of the role that can be played by Parliament and the various parliamentary select committees.
Malaysians do not want any constitutional crisis in any form but a single-minded focus by every Malaysian, whether in the Executive or the Legislatures – and this must remain the nation’s single-minded focus whether it takes one or two years.
Let Malaysians show the world that we can win the war against the COVID-19 pandemic and that we have the wartime mentality to unite against a common foe which is killing Malaysians every day and threatening to destroy the very fabric of the Malaysian nation. – June 18, 2021
Lim Kit Siang is a DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
