Muhyiddin asked about Malaysia’s  strengths and weaknesses in the invisible war against Covid-19 and whether the government will present its exit plan to Parliament for approval

Muhyiddin ditanyakan beberapa soalan mengenai kekuatan dan kelemahan negara dalam perjuangan melawan wabak Covid-19 dan adakah kerajaan bersedia membentangkan rancangan keluar dari PKP ke Parlimen untuk diluluskan?

Saya telah menghantar beberapa soalan untuk persidangan Parlimen pada 18 Mei yang meminta Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin untuk menyatakan “kekuatan dan kelemahan negara dalam perjuangan melawan wabak Covid-19 ini dan menyatakan sama ada kerajaan bersedia membentangkan rancangan keluar dari PKP ke Parlimen untuk diluluskan”.

Soalan di atas adalah satu daripada enam soalan yang telah saya hantar ke Parlimen — kesemuanya berkaitan dengan isu Covid-19. Soalan-soalan lain yang dihantar adalah seperti berikut:

1. Minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan kriteria untuk petugas barisan hadapan menerima elaun khas RM600 seperti yang dinyatakan di dalam pengumuman Bantuan Prihatin Nasional dan berapa ramaikah petugas barisan hadapan yang telah menerima bantuan ini.

2. Minta Menteri Sumber Manusia menyatakan berapa lamakah kerajaan mampu untuk meneruskan Program Pengekalan Pekerjaan jika PKP terpaksa disambung lagi dan rasional di sebalik kadar bantuan ini yang bernilai RM600 yang jelas tidak mencukupi untuk para pekerja yang mengambil cuti tanpa gaji.

3. Minta Menteri Kesihatan menjelaskan kapasiti semasa ujian saringan, penjejakan kontak rapat, dan rawatan untuk para pesakit Covid-19 dan rancangan KKM untuk meningkatkan kapasiti ini jika berlakunya kenaikan mendadak jumlah jangkitan selepas PKP dilonggarkan.

4. Minta Menteri Kewangan menjelaskan mengapakah berlakunya perubahan kepada polisi kerajaan mengenai moratorium pinjaman yang diumumkan sebagai sebahagian daripada Bantuan Prihatin Nasional yang kini menyebabkan para peminjam terpaksa menanggung bayaran faedah tambahan akibat moratorium ini.

5. Minta Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan menyatakan rancangan kerajaan untuk membantu para penyewa swasta yang kini hilang mata pencarian akibat PKP dan wabak Covid-19 daripada berhadapan dengan kemungkinan pengusiran akibat kegagalan membayar sewa.

Memandangkan penciptaan vaksin melawan Covid-19 mungkin akan mengambil masa sehingga 12 ke 24 bulan sebelum tersedia dengan meluas, rakyat Malaysia haruslah mencipta satu norma baharu untuk kehidupan mereka, sama ada di tempat kerja ataupun di rumah. Penjarakan sosial pula perlu menjadi satu daripada ciri utama norma baharu ini.

Negara kita boleh belajar daripada kesilapan dan kejayaan daripada seluruh dunia dalam perjuangan melawan wabak ini, memandangkan Covid-19 telah menular ke 219 negara dan kawasan, di mana 180 daripadanya telah melaporkan kematian.

Semasa negara kita mula melaksanakan Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan (PKP) pada 18 Mac 2020, jumlah keseluruhan kes di peringkat global baru sahaja melepasi paras 200,000 kes dengan kurang daripada 9,000 kematian. Hari ini jumlah keseluruhan kes global telah pun melepasi paras 3.5 juta kes dengan kadar kematian menghampiri satu perempat juta.

Jumlah kes disahkan di seluruh dunia telah meningkat 16 kali ganda, dengan 3,560,915 kes berbanding 218,910 kes pada 18 Mac manakala jumlah kematian pula telah meningkat 27 kali ganda, dengan 248,067 kematian, berbanding 8,925 kematian pada 18 Mac.

Semasa Malaysia melaksanakan PKP pada 18 Mac, kita adalah negara ke-18 teratas di dunia dari jumlah kes positif dan negara ke-33 teratas dari jumlah kematian disebabkan Covid-19. Kini, kita berada di kedudukan ke-50 dari jumlah kes positif dan kedudukan ke-53 dari jumlah kematian.

Berdasarkan statistik ini, terdapat juga kisah seram di Eropah dan Amerika Syarikat, di mana wabak Covid-19 ini terus merebak seperti mana di Itali yang pada 18 Mac merekodkan 35,713 kes dan kini merekodkan 210,717 kes (peningkatan sebanyak 5.9 kali ganda); Sepanyol, dari 14,769 kes kepada 247,122 kes (peningkatan 16.7 kali ganda); Jerman, dari 12,327 kes kepada 165,664 (meningkat sebanyak 13,4 kali); Perancis, dari 9,634 kes kepada 168,693 kes (meningkat sebanyak 17,5 kali); United Kingdom, dari 3,269 kes kepada 186,599 (meningkat sebanyak 57 kali); dan Amerika Syarikat dari 9,296 kepada 1,186,073 (meningkat sebanyak 127.5 kali).

Kisah seram ini tidak hanya berlaku di negara barat. Pada 18 Mac, Brazil merekodkan lebih sedikit kes positif berbanding Malaysia, hanya 529 kes, tapi kini negara tersebut telah berada di kedudukan kesembilan, melepasi China, dengan 101,147 kes (peningkatan hampir 191 kali ganda, lebih tinggi daripada AS) dan sejumlah 6,750 kematian.

Di samping itu, kita juga mempunyai kisah-kisah kejayaan Korea Selatan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, dan Vietnam.

Semasa PKP dilaksanakan, terdapat tiga negara dengan lebih daripada seribu kematian; China, Itali, dan Iran.

Kini, terdapat 22 negara yang merekodkan lebih daripada seribu kematian, iaitu:

1. Amerika Syarikat – 68,545

2. Itali – 28,884

3. United Kingdom – 28,446

4. Sepanyol – 25,264

5. Perancis – 24,895

6. Belgium – 7,844

7. Brazil – 7,025

8. Jerman – 6,866

9. Iran – 6,203

10. Belanda – 5,056

11. China – 4,633

12. Kanada – 3,682

13. Turki – 3,397

14. Sweden – 2,679

15. Mexico – 2,061

16. Switzerland – 1,762

17. Ekuador – 1,564

18. India – 1,391

19. Ireland – 1,303

20. Peru – 1,286

21. Rusia – 1,280

22. Portugal – 1,043

Apakah pengajaran terpenting yang boleh kita pelajari daripada kesilapan dan kejayaan negara-negara lain dalam melawan wabak Covid-19? Tambahan pula, peperangan melawan wabak ini akan berterusan dalam tempoh dua tahun yang akan datang.

Selain daripada enam kriteria yang perlu dipenuhi sebelum kita melonggarkan kawalan pergerakan secara berfasa dan mengikut kawasan untuk mengekang penularan virus ini, negara perlu melonjakkan semula ekonomi negara dalam pada masa yang sama. Pengajaran terpenting adalah untuk mempunyai pendekatan yang melibatkan “kerajaan secara menyeluruh” dan “masyarakat secara menyeluruh”. Ini kerana, ia jelas sekali tidak kelihatan dalam strategi semasa kerajaan melawan Covid-19.

Perkara ini telah menyebabkan perkara tidak masuk akal berlaku, seperti persidangan Parlimen dalam tempoh sehari. Ini jelas melemahkan dan mengenepikan fungsi Parlimen yang menjadi punca banyak hal mengelirukan berlaku kebelakangan ini.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Isnin 4 Mei 2020)

================================

I have submitted a question for the May 18 sitting of Parliament asking the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhjiddin Yassin to state “what are the strengths and weaknesses of the nation in the invisible war against Covid-19 and whether the government will present its exit plan to Parliament for approval”.

This is one of the six questions – all concerning the Covid-19 outbreak – which I have submitted to Parliament.

The other questions are:

1. To ask the Prime Minister  to explain the criteria for medical frontliners to be eligible for the RM600 special allowance as mentioned in the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional and to state the numbers of frontliners who already received this special allowance.

2. To ask the Human Resource Minister to state how long can the government sustain the Employment Retention Programme if the MCO had to be extended again and the rationale behind the RM600 amount as it is clearly insufficient to survive on with unpaid leave.

3. To ask the Health Minister to state our current capacity for testing, contact tracing, and treatment for Covid-19 patients and the ministry’s plan to increase this capacity should we face a sudden surge of infections.

4.     To ask the Finance Minister to state why there have been changes in government policy regarding the loan moratorium as announced in Bantuan Prihatin Nasional that are now causing borrowers to face additional interest payment.

5. To ask the Housing and Local Government Minister to state the government plan to help private renters who had lost their source of income due to MCO and Covid-19 from being evicted due to lapse in rent payment.

As it would take 12 to 24 months before an effective vaccine against Covid-19 is  developed and available widely, Malaysians must craft a “new norm” to become part of their lives, whether in work or play, where “social distancing” becomes  a main feature of this “new norm”.

The world is a stage where Malaysia can learn from the successes and the mistakes of other countries in the invisible war against Covid-19, as the disease has reached 219 countries and territories, 180 of which have reported fatalities.

When Malaysia imposed the movement control order (MCO) on March 18, 2020, total global cases had just passed the 200,000 mark with fatalities less than 9,000. Today, the global total of confirmed cases have passed the 3.5 million mark while fatalities is nearing a quarter of a million.

Global total of confirmed cases have  increased more than 16 times from 218,910 cases on  March 18  to the present 3,560,915 cases while the global death toll has increased by over 27 times  from 8,925 to 248,067 deaths.

When Malaysia imposed the MCO on March 18, we were the top 18th country in the world in terms of number of cases, and top 33rd country in terms of Covid-19 deaths. We are now No. 50 in world ranking in terms of number of Covid-19 cases and No. 53  in terms of Covid-19 deaths.

There is on the one hand the horror stories in Europe and the United States  where Covid-19 outbreak went on a rampage, as in  Italy, from 35,713 cases on March 18 to the present  210,717 cases  (increase by 5.9 times); Spain,   from  14,769 cases  to 247,122  cases  (increase by 16.7 times);  Germany, from 12,327 cases  to 165,664  (increase by 13.4 times); France, from 9,634 cases to  168,693 cases (increase by 17.5 times);  United Kingdom, from  3,269 cases to 186,599 (increase by 57 times); and United States  from 9,296 to 1,186,073 (increase by 127.5 times).

The horror countries do not just come from the West. Brazil had  on March 18 less cases than Malaysia, with  529 cases and four deaths but  it had skyrocketed to  become the world’s Top Ninth Country with the most number of Covid-19 cases, more than China,  with  101,147  cases (increase of 191 times, more than the United States) and  a shocking toll of 6,750 deaths.

On the other hand, we have the success stories of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong  and Vietnam in the invisible war against Covid-19.

When the MCO was imposed on March 18, there were three countries with four-digit death toll, namely China, Italy and Iran.

Today, there are 22 countries which have  recorded four-digit death toll of over 1,000 Covid-19 deaths, viz:

1. United States – 68,545

2. Italy – 28,884

3. United Kingdom – 28,446

4. Spain – 25,264

5. France – 24,895

6. Belgium – 7,844

7.Brazil – 7,025

8. Germany – 6,866

9. Iran – 6,203

10. Netherlands – 5,056

11. China – 4,633

12. Canada – 3,682

13. Turkey – 3,397

14. Sweden – 2,679

15. Mexico – 2,061

16. Switzerland – 1,762

17. Ecuador – 1,564

18. India – 1,391

19. Ireland – 1,303

20. Peru – 1,286

21. Russia – 1,280

22. Portugal – 1,043

What is the most important lesson we can learn from the mistakes and successes of other nations in the invisible war against Covid-19, as this invisible war is going to be with us for the next two years?

Apart from the six criteria to be fulfilled before we have  a phased and localised lifting of restrictions to contain the coronavirus and to revive the devastated economy, the most important lesson is to have an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” approach, which is missing in the government’s present  strategy in the invisible war against Covid-19.

This has resulted in ridiculous notions like a one-day Parliament to emasculate and marginalise Parliament and the great confusion in the country today.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Monday, 4th May 2020)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 4 May 2020, 8:32 am and is filed under
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Federal government warning of legal action against nine states for refusal to comply with CMCO proof of absence of “whole-of-government” approach and sad example  of a very shambolic exit plan where the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing

Amaran kerajaan persekutuan mengenai tindakan undang-undang terhadap sembilan kerajaan negeri yang enggan untuk mematuhi PKPB adalah bukti ketiadaan pendekatan melibatkan “keseluruhan kerajaan” dan merupakan contoh rancangan keluar kerajaan yang huru-hara di mana tangan kanan tidak tahu apa yang tangan kiri sedang lakukan

Amaran kerajaan persekutuan semalam, mengenai tindakan undang-undang yang mungkin diambil terhadap sembilan kerajaan negeri di atas keengganan mereka untuk mematuhi PKPB adalah bukti ketiadaan pendekatan melibatkan “kerajaan secara menyeluruh” dan merupakah satu contoh ‘rancangan keluar’ kerajaan yang huru-hara, apabila tangan kanan tidak tahu apa yang sedang dilakukan tangan kiri.

Ugutan tindakan undang-undang semalam, daripada seorang Menteri Kanan merangkap Menteri Perdagangan dan Industri Antarabangsa, Azmin Ali, hanyalah menambah buruk situasi sedia ada. Beliau sepatutnya mengadakan satu mesyuarat dengan para Menteri Besar dan Ketua Menteri bagi mencapai persetujuan mengenai langkah membuka semula ekonomi secara berfasa melalui Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Bersyarat (PKPB).

Jelas sekali Azmin tidak memahami Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Beliau perlu memberikan perhatian kepada kenyataan Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Hubungan Persekutuan-Negeri Parlimen, Hassan Abdul Karim, yang menyatakan bahawa kerajaan persekutuan dan kerajaan negeri diberikan kuasa secara bersama dalam perkara berkaitan kesihatan di dalam Jadual Kesembilan Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Perkara berkaitan kesihatan awam dan kawalan penyakit termaktub di bawah Senarai Bersama. Ini bermakna kedua-dua kerajaan persekutuan dan kerajaan negeri mempunyai bidang kuasa ke atas perkara ini.

Azmin, mahupun kerajaan persekutuan tidak boleh bergantung semata-mata kepada Akta Pencegahan dan Pengawalan Penyakit Berjangkit 1988 (Akta 342) untuk memaksa kerajaan negeri untuk mematuhi keputusan kerajaan persekutuan bagi membuka semula ekonomi bermula 4 Mei.

Enam negeri, Kedah, Sabah, Pahang, Pulau Pinang, Kelantan, dan Sarawak telah mengambil keputusan untuk tidak mengikuti langkah kerajaan persekutuan, manakala tiga lagi negeri iaitu Selangor, Perak, dan Negeri Sembilan memutuskan untuk mengehadkan jumlah peniagaan yang dibenarkan bagi menyambung semula operasi.

Walaupun Azmin merujuk kepada mesyuarat Majlis Keselamatan Negara bertarikh 28 April yang dihadiri oleh para menteri besar dan ketua menteri, tidak ada sebarang persetujuan dicapai di dalam mesyuarat tersebut tentang langkah yang boleh diambil pelbagai sektor bagi membuka semula ekonomi dibawah PKPB secara berfasa.

Sepatutnya, satu lagi mesyuarat yang melibatkan para menteri besar dan ketua menteri perlu diadakan sebelum PKP dilonggarkan dan digantikan dengan PKPB pada 4 Mei.

Perkara inilah yang sepatutnya dilakukan Azmin sekarang, bukannya mengeluarkan ugutan tindakan undang-undang yang bukan-bukan semalam.

Perjuangan melawan wabak Covid-19 ini adalah satu perjuangan yang panjang — demi memastikan dalam satu ke dua tahun yang akan datang, negara tidak mengalami peningkatan kes wabak. Dalam pada masa yang sama, kita perlu memastikan ekonomi negara boleh dilonjakkan semula secepat mungkin.

Pengendalian wabak secara kucar-kacir — seperti yang dapat dilihat dengan isu-isu seperti “penawar air suam untuk Covid-19”, “15 negeri”, “500 negara”, “Doraemon”, “Menteri Tik Tok”, mahupun pertuduhan diskriminasi dalam pengagihan bantuan makanan kepada golongan B40 di kawasan parlimen pembangkang — haruslah dihentikan serta-merta.

Amatlah penting bagi kerajaan mempercepatkan langkah pendekatan “kerajaan secara menyeluruh” dan “masyarakat menyeluruh” dengan memastikan Parlimen dapat memainkan peranannya. Ini bertujuan untuk meneliti dan menyemak imbang tindakan kerajaan supaya negara kita berjaya di dalam peperangan melawan wabak Covid-19.

Setakat ini, kerajaan hanya bertindak seakan-akan mereka sahaja yang tahu apa yang terbaik untuk negara, sedangkan jelas sekali, era kerajaan yang arif pada semua hal ini telahpun berlalu.

Lebih daripada 40,000 rakyat Malaysia telah menandatangani petisyen atas talian supaya Parlimen bersidang untuk sekurang-kurangnya dua minggu dan bukannya hanya sehari pada 18 Mei. Saya menyeru lebih ramai rakyat Malaysia menandatangani petisyen ini supaya Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin menyedari kehendak rakyat.

Petisyen ini boleh diakses di pautan berikut: https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-yab-muhyiddin-yassin-get-parliament-to-sit-for-2-weeks-from-18-may-not-just-1-day

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Selasa, 5 Mei 2020)

==================================

The federal government warning last night  of legal action against nine states for refusal to comply with the conditional movement control order (CMCO) is  proof of absence of “whole-of-government” approach and sad example of a very shambolic exit plan where the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.

The legal threat last night  by Senior Minister and Minister for International Trade and Industry, Azmin Ali, was adding insult to injury when he should have convened a meeting of Chief Ministers and Mentri-Mentri Besar to reach a consensus on the  phased restart of the economy through the conditional movement control order.

Clearly, Azmin is not conversant with the Malaysian Constitution.  He should pay heed to the statement by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Federal/State Relations, Hassan Abdul Karim, who pointed out that Federal and state governments are jointly given power on health matters under the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

Matters of public health and prevention of diseases appear under the concurrent list, meaning both federal and state governments jointly have jurisdiction on these matters.

Neither Azmin nor the federal government can rely solely on citing the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) to impose their will upon state governments to follow the federal government’s decision to reopen the economy on May 4.

Six states, Kedah, Sabah, Pahang, Penang, Kelantan and Sarawak have decided not to follow the Federal Government move while three states,  Selangor, Perak and Negri Sembilan said they would limit the number of businesses allowed to resume operations.

Although Azmin referred to the National Security Council (NSC) meeting of April 28, which was attended by chief ministers and mentri-mentri besar, no consensus was reached at that meeting  as to how the various economic sectors would be re-opened under a CMCO  to provide for a phased lifting and soft-landing exit plan.

A second  meeting of Chief Ministers and Mentri-Mentri Besar should have been held before the lifting of the MCO and the imposition of the CMCO on May 4.

This is what Azmin should do now instead of issuing a dubious legal threat last night.

The invisible war against Covid-19 is going to be a long and protracted one – to ensure that in the next one to two years, there will be no resurgence of the outbreak and to ensure that the economy can bounce back in the quickest possible time.

There should be an end to the ham-fisted handling of the invisible war like the fiascoes over  the  “warm water cure for Covid-19”, “15 states”, “500 countries”, “Doraemon”, “Menteri”, “Tik Tok” or serious allegations of discrimination of food aid parcels for needy B40 families in Opposition constituencies.

It is urgent and  imperative that the government adopt an  “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” approach with Parliament playing  its oversight and scrutiny role to ensure the nation’s success in the invisible war against Covid-19 pandemic.

So far the government has acted as if it knows best, when clearly it does not and furthermore, “the government knows best” is an attitude which  belongs  to a bygone era.

More than 40,000 Malaysians have signed the online petition for Parliament to meet for at least two weeks, and not just for one day, on May 18. Let more Malaysians sign the online petition to convey their views to the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin.

The online petition is available at the site:

https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-yab-muhyiddin-yassin-get-parliament-to-sit-for-2-weeks-from-18-may-not-just-1-day

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Tuesday, May 5, 2020)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 May 2020, 10:03 am and is filed under
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Will Cabinet restore a full Parliament session instead of a one-day Parliament on May 18 with the CMCO replacing MCO till May 12?

Adakah Kabinet akan mengembalikan persidangan penuh Parlimen pada 18 Mei memandangkan PKPB telahpun menggantikan PKP sehingga 12 Mei?

Satu penjelasan yang memalukan!

Berapa ramaikah rakyat Malaysia yang menganggap ugutan Menteri Kanan Azmi Ali berkenaan kemungkinan sembilan kerajaan negeri berhadapan dengan tindakan undang-undang kerana keengganan mereka untuk mematuhi perintah kawalan pergerakan bersyarat (PKPB) sebagai hanya satu peringatan?

Tidak ada langsung — baik dari kalangan sembilan kerajaan negeri ini mahupun rakyat Malaysia.

Jelas sekali kepada kita semua, Menteri Kanan merangkap Menteri Perdagangan dan Industri Antarabangsa ini mempunyai satu cara yang amat pelik untuk memberikan peringatan.

Keadaan kucar-kacir yang telah beliau cetuskan dengan PKPB ini, bersama dengan seruan daripada Menteri Kewangan pada 3 Mei untuk rakyat memberikan cadangan mereka kepada rancangan pemulihan ekonomi kebangsaan adalah bukti jelas yang kerajaan masih belum mempunyai sebarang rancangan yang terbaik untuk negara kita di dalam perjuangan melawan Covid-19 ini yang mungkin berlanjutan sehingga setahun atau dua tahun.

Azmin perlu menyedari kepentingan pendekatan melibatkan “keseluruhan kerajaan” dan juga pendekatan penglibatan “keseluruhan masyarakat” untuk menggembeleng kekuatan dan sumber kerajaan negeri untuk bekerjasama dengan kerajaan persekutuan bagi memenangi peperangan melawan wabak ini, yang tidak bukan sahaja untuk menyelamatkan nyawa, tetapi juga punca kehidupan dan ekonomi negara.

Walaupun Azmin menyatakan yang keputusan untuk membuka semula ekonomi negara ini adalah berasaskan data dan kaji selidik yang dijalankan oleh pelbagai pihak, beliau gagal untuk menjelaskan mengapa beliau terus memaksa pelaksanaan PKPB tanpa memastikan persetujuan kerajaan negeri dapat dicapai terlebih dahulu.

Azmin telah menjejaskan hubungan di antara kerajaan negeri dan kerajaan persekutuan dengan penjelasan beliau yang memalukan — kononnya beliau hanyalah memberikan peringatan dan bukanlah memberikan ugutan tindakan undang-undang.

Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin harus masuk campur dan mengadakan satu mesyuarat bersama dengan semua kerajaan negeri untuk memastikan kedua-dua kerajaan persekutuan dan kerajaan negeri berada di satu tahap pemahaman yang sama mengenai peperangan melawan wabak Covid-19 ini, terutamanya dalam usaha mengekang penularan virus ini dan dalam usaha-usaha menggerakkan semula ekonomi negara.

Persoalannya sekarang, adakah Kabinet akan mengembalikan persidangan penuh Parlimen bermula 18 Mei yang telah dipendekkan kepada sehari memandangkan PKP dengan pun digantikan dengan PKPB sehingga 12 Mei?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Rabu 6 Mei 2020)

======================================

What  a pathetic explanation!

How many Malaysians took the threat issued by  Senior Minister Azmin Ali of possible legal action against  the nine state governments on their  refusal to comply with the conditional movement control order (CMCO) as a gentle reminder?

None at all – neither  the nine state governments nor the Malaysian public.

Clearly, the Senior Minister and Minister for International Trade and Industry has a very abnormal way of giving reminders!

The mess he has created over the CMCO, together with the call  by the Minister of Finance on 3rd May to welcome proposals for the national economic recovery plan,  are potent evidence that the government has yet to develop the best exit plan strategy and blueprint in the invisible war against Covid-19 although the invisible war  is going to last another year or  two.

Azmin must realise the critical importance of an “all-of-government” approach – let alone a “whole-of-society” approach –  to harness the strengths and resources of all State Governments to work in tandem with the Federal Government to win the invisible war against Covid-19, not only to save lives but to save livelihoods and the Malaysian economy.

Although Azmin said that the decision to re-open the economy was based on data and research conducted by various parties, he failed to explain why he did not ensure that the state governments reached a consensus first instead of bulldozing through with the CMCO.

Azmin has left a bad taste in the mouth in Federal-State relations with his pathetic explanation that he had not issued a threat to the State Governments but only made a reminder.

The Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should intervene and convene a meeting with all State Governments to ensure that the Federal Government and all  State Governments are on the same page in the invisible war against  Covid-19, in particular  to contain the coronavirus and to rescue the Malaysian economy devastated by the pandemic.

The question now is whether the  Cabinet would  restore  a full Parliamentary  session instead of a one-day Parliament on May 18 with the CMCO replacing MCO till May 12?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Wednesday, May 6, 2020)

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A lockdown on oversight and scrutiny roles of Parliament over government actions until the end of the Covid-19 pandemic will mean the death of democracy in Malaysia

Senior Minister Azmin Ali probably thinks he is being clever in  tweeting about “political distancing” at a time when country “needs rebuilding”, but his tweet actually betrays him as belonging to Ministers who want a lockdown of Parliamentary  oversight and scrutiny of government actions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

These are Ministers who want to use the Covid-19 pandemic as a blank cheque to be able to abuse their powers without any restraint and free from any parliamentary oversight and scrutiny.

Unfortunately, Malaysians cannot see anyone in the Cabinet today who could qualify to be Plato’s philosopher-kings, who possess both a love of wisdom as well as intelligence, reliability and a willingness to live a simple life and whose soul are made of gold.

This is why corruption and abuses of power are beginning to rear their ugly heads before the end of the first hundreds days of the Perikatan Nasional government.

There is at present  the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission  (MACC) investigation into a RM30 million contract to supply mass testing laboratory systems to the Health Ministry in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic and the double-standards  where a single mother was at first jailed but  which was  reduced to eight days’ jail and RM1,000 fine on appeal  for violating the movement control order (MCO), while the daughter of a VIP was merely given a RM800 fine for a similar  but  graver offence.

Is this  why Ministers do not want Parliament to have full session to carry out its parliamentary oversight and scrutiny roles in the first hundred days of the new overnment and the genesis for the ridiculous one-day Parliament on 18th May?

I agree that at a time of unprecedented national crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or  politics should  put aside their differences and  unite as one  people to fight the invisible war against Covid-19, but this cannot be a blank cheque for abuses of power, kleptocracy,  rampant corruption, mediocrity or sheer idiocy in government policies.

If there is a lockdown of parliamentary oversight and scrutiny, then the fiascos, farces and blunders of the government in the  past 68 days will become a common occurrence, whether the ham-fisted threat to  state governments with legal action instead of ensuring  a consensus to spearhead an  united Federal-State governments in the invisible war against Covid-19, the “warm water cure for Covid-19”, “15 states”,  “500 countries”, “Doraemon”, “Menteri”, “Tik Tok” or serious allegations of discrimination of food aid parcels for needy B40 families in Opposition constituencies.

There can be no doubt that a  lockdown on oversight and scrutiny roles of Parliament over government actions until the end of the Covid-19 pandemic will mean the death of democracy in Malaysia – for this is going to take up to two years until an effective vaccine against Covid-19 is developed and available widely.

I agree that while  we are in the midst of an invisible war against Covid-19, we should put aside our political differences, and we should not pursue questions why Malaysia should face the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia and who must be responsible for the loss of 107 lives as a result of the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak which broke loose from the first wave, which had contained the initial  Covid-19 outbreak to 22 cases and zero deaths. Now we have  6,428 cases and 107 deaths.

There is no reason why Malaysia should not be better than Thailand on the Covid-19 situation, but as the Health Director-General Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah has admitted, as compared to Thailand which has a bigger population, the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia was the reason why  Malaysia is lagging behind Thailand in containing the Covid-19 pandemic.

We should not have to experience the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, but despite that, Malaysia has not fared too badly.

Just look back to March 18, when we imposed the movement control order (MCO).

Seven weeks ago, China was the leading nation with the most number of 80,907 confirmed cases with a total toll of 3,245 deaths.

The ten top countries in the world with the most number of cases were China, Italy, Iran, Spain, Germany, United States, France, South Korea, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

Today,  China, South Korea and Switzerland have been edged out of the list of  the top ten countries, having been replaced by Russia, Turkey and Brazil.

The present  top ten countries in terms of Covid-19 confirmed cases are:

1.     United States –        1,258,051 cases

2.     Spain           –            253,682 cases

3.     Italy              –            214,457 cases

4.     United Kingdom –        201,101 cases

5.     France                       174,191 cases

6.     Germany      –            168,162 cases

7.     Russia          –            165,929 cases

8.     Turkey           –           131,744 cases

9.     Brazil            –             125,218 cases

10. Iran              –             101,650 cases

On 18th March, Malaysia represented 0.36 per cent of total global cases, i.e 790 cases in Malaysia as against the global total of 218,910 cases. Today, we represent a smaller percentage of the global total, i.e. 0.16 percent or 6,429 cases in Malaysia as against the global total of 3,812,717 cases.

Similarly, Malaysia represented 0.02 per cent of global toll of Covid-19 deaths on March 18 –  two deaths in Malaysia with  8,925 deaths world-wide. Today, Malaysia represents 0.04 per cent of global toll i.e. 107 deaths in Malaysia and 264,128 worldwide.

Malaysia has not done too badly in fighting the invisible war against Covid-19 despite the second wave of the outbreak, and  the top priority in the country now is to rally all Malaysians in unity and solidarity to win the war against Covid-19,  both to  prevent a third wave of the outbreak and to revive in the quickest possible time  the Malaysian economy devastated by the pandemic.

But we must not surrender to the siren calls who want the Covid-19 pandemic to lock down all parliamentary scrutiny and oversight of government actions as we must not give a blank cheque to developments that could  lead to rampant corruption, revival of kleptocracy,  massive  violation of human rights and the death of democracy.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Thursday, May 7, 2020)

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National priorities in the  Covid-19 Pandemic must  ensure that  there is no  carte blanche for rampant corruption, revival of kleptocracy, violation of human rights and the death of democracy

Tomorrow, the Covid-19 pandemic would register four million confirmed cases with a global  toll over 275,000 deaths.

In the next two years until an effective vaccine is developed and widely available,  we must learn to live with the coronavirus with  new norms, with social distancing and personal hygiene as the main features.

We must be clear that our national priorities in the Covid-19 pandemic must ensure that there is no carte blanche for rampant corruption, revival of kleptocracy, violation of human rights and the death of democracy.

Malaysia’s new norms cannot violate the two fundamental principles in the Malaysian Constitution – the doctrine of the separation of powers and the rule of law.

This is why Parliament and the administration of justice should be declared “essential services” in any pandemic or we will not be true and loyal to the Malaysian Constitution.

South Korea stood out as a refreshing example. It experienced its first case of Covid-19 the same day as the United States on 20th January.  In February, South Korea  became the country with the second-highest Covid-19 infections after China.

Since then, South Korea has set the gold standard to flatten the curve and provide timely medical care to the infected.  South Korea’s  transparency and a government which is open and could secure the trust of the people were among the factors for the country’s success.

In contrast, the United States has become a  major epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic, registering nearly 1.3 million cases and  77,000 deaths as against South Korea’s 10,910 cases and 256 deaths.

South Korea even became the first country to hold nation-wide election amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaysia must look to South Korea and not to the United States as an example where we can successfully contain the corona virus outbreak,  safeguard the parliamentary system entrenched  in the Malaysian Constitution and  revive the economy  devastated by the pandemic.

This is why there should be a full session of Parliament and not just a ridiculous one-day Parliament on May 18.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Friday, May 8, 2020)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 May 2020, 4:41 pm and is filed under
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Is Parliament putting the clock back on  parliamentary reforms by dissolving the present  10 Parliamentary Select Committees and replacing them with  one master Parliamentary Select Committee?

Adakah Parlimen akan kembali ke masa lampau dengan membubarkan 10 Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas sedia ada dan menggantikannya dengan satu sahaja Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas?

Menteri Hal Ehwal Parlimen, Takiyuddin Hassan harus menjelaskan sama ada kerajaan Perikatan Nasional bercadang untuk menghumban Parlimen kembali ke masa lampau dengan membubarkan sepuluh Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Parlimen dan menggantikannya dengan satu Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas yang mempunyai bidang kuasa ke atas semua perkara.

Malaysiakini melaporkan hari ini bahawa Takiyuddin berkata di dalam satu sidang akhbar yang hanya urusan kerajaan sahaja akan diutamakan dalam persidangan Parlimen sehari pada 18 Mei ini dan urusan kerajaan ini termasuklah pelantikan satu jawatankuasa pilihan khas untuk menggantikan jawatankuasa-jawatankuasa sedia ada.

Terdapat 12 jawatankuasa pilihan khas yang ditubuhkan di bawah kerajaan Pakatan Harapan, iaitu: Jawatankuasa Menimbang Rang Undang-undang, Jawatankuasa Belanjawan, Jawatankuasa Hak Dan Kesaksamaan Jantina, Jawatankuasa Pelantikan Utama Awam, Jawatankuasa Pertahanan dan Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri, Jawatankuasa Hubungan Persekutuan-Negeri, Jawatankuasa Hal Ehwal Pilihan Raya, Jawatankuasa Hubungan dan Perdagangan Antarabangsa, Jawatankuasa Hak Asasi Manusia dan Hal Ehwal Perlembagaan, dan Jawatankuasa Sains, Inovasi, dan Alam Sekitar.

Parlimen akan kembali ke masa lampau dari segi reformasi Parlimen jika jawatankuasa-jawatankuasa ini dibubarkan.

Malah, Parlimen sepatutnya menubuhkan satu jawatakuasa baharu mengenai hal ehwal kesihatan dan penjagaan sosial serta merta untuk membolehkan proses penelitian dan semak imbang tindakan kerajaan dalam mengendalikan wabak Covid-19.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Sabtu 9 Mei 2020)

===============================

The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Takiyuddin Hassan should  clarify whether the Perikatan Nasional Government proposes to  put back the  clock on  parliamentary reforms by dissolving the present  ten Parliamentary Select Committees and  replacing them with one master Parliamentary Select Committee.

Malaysiakini yesterday reported Takiyuddin as saying  at a press conference  that  only government matters would be prioritized during the one-day Parliament sitting on May 18, and that the government matters include the appointment of a select committee to replace existing parliamentary select committees.

There are now 12 parliamentary select committees under the Pakatan Harapan government, viz: Consideration of Bills Committee; the Budget Committee; the Rights and Gender Equality Committee; the Major Public Appointments Committee; the Defence and Home Affairs Committee; the Federal State Relations Committee; the Election; the International Relations and Trade Committere; the Human Rights and Constitutional Affairs; and Science, Innovation and Environment.

Parliament will be putting back the clock back on parliamentary reforms if the present ten Parliamentary Select Committees are dissolved.

In fact, Parliament should immediately set up a Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and Social Care to provide oversight and scrutiny of government actions in the Covid-19 pandemic.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Saturday, 9th May 2020)

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Malaysia should not get the ignominy as the only country in the world which exploited  the Covid-19 Pandemic to lockdown Parliament to  avoid oversight and scrutiny to allow massive abuse of powers, rampant  corruption, revival of kleptocracy and widespread violation of human rights

Malaysia should not be known  as the one country in the world which exploited  the Covid-19 pandemic to lockdown Parliament to avoid oversight and scrutiny to allow massive abuse of powers, rampant  corruption, revival of kleptocracy and widespread violation of human rights.

Although Malaysia should have been spared the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak, and kept the Covid-19 infection in a  low number without any single fatality,  we have performed quite well in fighting the invisible war against the pandemic since the imposition of the movement control order (MCO) on  March 18.

When Malaysia imposed the MCO on March 18,  there were less than a quarter of million Covid-19 confirmed cases in 178 countries and territories  and globally  less than 9,000 deaths in 70 countries.

In the past 53 days, the Covid-19 pandemic has multiplied over 18 times from 218,910 cases to reach over 4.1 million confirmed cases in 219 countries and territories,  while  global fatalities multiplied over 31 times from 8,925 deaths to 280,443 deaths in 182 countries.

On 18th March, we  were the top 18th country in the world in terms of number of cases, and top 33rd country in terms of Covid-19 deaths. We are now No. 51 in world ranking in terms of number of Covid-19 cases and No. 56 in terms of Covid-19 deaths.

We have avoided the horrors of the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, Russia and Brazil – at one time in the United States, the daily increase of Covid-19 cases exceeded  37,000 cases  and the daily increase of Covid-19 deaths surpassed 2,500 cases.

But we must make sure that  Malaysia does not earn the  ignominy from the Covid-19 pandemic as the only country in the world  to exploit  the pandemic to lockdown Parliament to  avoid oversight and scrutiny to allow massive abuse of powers, rampant  corruption, revival of kleptocracy and widespread violation of human rights.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Sunday, May 10, 2020)

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Why has Tok Mat  descended to the level of paid UMNO cybertroopers?

Mengapakah Tok Mat kini seakan-akan seorang askar siber UMNO?

Saya terkejut dengan Timbalan Presiden UMNO Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan yang kini kelihatan seakan-akan seorang askar siber UMNO, menanyakan mengapa saya masih belum bersara dari politik.

Saya telah katakan tahun lepas, semasa PRK Sandakan, yang saya bersedia untuk bertaruh dengan Tok Mat bahawa Tun Dr Mahathir akan mengotakan janji beliau untuk memberikan jawatan Perdana Menteri kepada Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dan tidak membubarkan Parlimen sebelum berbuat demikian. Tetapi Tok Mat tidak berani menerima cabaran tersebut walaupun saya telah berikan dua hari untuk beliau menerimanya.

Tidak ada sesiapapun yang terkejut jika seorang askar siber perlu bekerja lebih masa untuk memanipulasikan isu semasa. Tetapi untuk Tok Mat berbuat demikian, sedangkan beliau sendiri pun bertanggungjawab dalam menjayakan Langkah Sheraton — yang telah membuatkan taruhan ini tidak bermakna lagi — yang bukan sahaja telah menamatkan pentadbiran Tun Dr Mahathir dan Pakatan Harapan, malah juga menjadi punca gelombang kedua wabak Covid-19 berlaku dalam negara kita yang telah mencatatkan 6,656 kes dan 108 kematian.

Adakah Tok Mat akan bertanggungjawab ke atas gelombang kedua ini, yang telah menyebabkan perintah kawalan pergerakan (PKP) dilaksanakan bermula daripada 18 Mac dan dilanjutkan sehingga 9 Jun?

(Komen Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Isnin 11 Mei 2020)

==============================

I am surprised that the UMNO deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan has descended to the level of paid UMNO cybertroopers, asking why I had not stepped down from politics.

I had said at the Sandakan by-election in May last year that I was prepared to have a wager with Mohamad that Mahathir will keep his word to pass on the Prime Minister’s post to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and will not dissolve Parliament to call for fresh elections instead, but Mohamad had not dared to accept the wager although I gave him two days to do so.

No one will be surprised if the paid UMNO cybertroopers work overtime to distort the issue but it is most surprising  that Mohamad is in the very  forefront of this campaign when he himself was partly  responsible for the series of “Sheraton Hotel”  events which made the subject completely academic – toppling not only the Mahathir premiership and Pakatan Harapan government, but allowing a  second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia resulting in 6,656 cases and 108 deaths.

Will Mohamad accept responsibility for this second wave of Covid-19 outbreak which caused the imposition of the movement control order (MCO) on March 18 and  which has now been  extended till June 9?

(Media Comment  by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Monday, 11th May 2020)

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With our MSC background, Malaysian Parliament should be one of the first Parliaments in the world to have virtual parliamentary meetings except that the PN government wants to exploit the Covid-19 Pandemic to lockdown parliamentary oversight and scrutiny!

Berdasarkan latar belakang KRM kita, Parlimen Malaysia seharusnya menjadi Parlimen pertama di dunia yang mengadakan persidangan Parlimen secara maya. Namun sebaliknya, kerajaan PN cuba menggunakan wabak Covid-19 untuk menghalang Parlimen daripada menjalankan peranannya sebagai peneliti dan menyemak imbang

Berdasarkan latar belakang Koridor Raya Multimedia (KRM) kita, Parlimen Malaysia seharusnya menjadi Parlimen pertama di dunia yang mengadakan persidangan Parlimen secara maya. Sebaliknya, kerajaan PN cuba menggunakan wabak Covid-19 ini untuk menghalang Parlimen daripada menjalankan peranannya untuk meneliti dan menyemak imbang tindakan kerajaan.

Malah, satu tinjauan terhadap Parlimen di seluruh dunia menunjukkan bahawa Malaysia adalah satu-satunya negara di mana Parlimennya dihalang daripada menjalankan tanggungjawab.

Parlimen di kebanyakan negara lain menjalankan tugas mereka untuk meneliti tindakan kerajaan dalam menangani isu-isu epidemiologi dan sosio-ekonomi yang berpunca daripada wabak Covid-19 ini. Tambahan pula, terdapat beberapa Parlimen yang telahpun menubuhkan jawatankuasa pilihan khas baharu berkaitan dengan wabak ini.

Sebagai contoh, Dewan Rakyat di Kanada telah menubuhkan Jawatankuasa Khas Wabak Covid-19 pada 20 April yang bermesyuarat melalui persidangan video dua kali seminggu.

Parlimen New Zealand pula telah menubuhkan Jawatankuasa Tindak Balas Epidemik yang terdiri daripada ahli parlimen kerajaan dan pembangkang untuk meneliti tindakan kerajaan. Manakala di United Kingdom pula, beberapa Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas telah mengadakan sesi soal jawab atas talian untuk menyiasat pelbagai aspek rancangan kerajaan dalam menguruskan wabak Covid-19. Ini juga termasuk isu-isu berkaitan penjarakan sosial dan kawalan pergerakan yang menimbulkan pelbagai isu kepada wanita dan kanak-kanak yang hidup di dalam isi rumah yang terdedah kepada risiko keganasan rumah tangga. Isu-isu hak asasi manusia berkaitan dengan tindakan kerajaan dalam mengawal penularan wabak ini turut dibincangkan.

Kerana inilah cadangan daripada beberapa pakar akademik supaya platform atas talian seperti Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Web Meetings, ataupun Google Meet digunakan untuk mengadakan persidangan penuh Parlimen secara atas talian — dan bukannya persidangan sehari yang tidak masuk akal — ini tidak mungkin diberikan perhatian yang sepatutnya.

Masalah kita bukanlah ketiadaan teknologi maklumat, tetapi ketiadaan kehendak politik di dalam kerajaan PN untuk memastikan Parlimen kekal memainkan peranannya dalam meneliti dan menyemak imbang segala tindakan kerajaan semasa negara kita dilanda wabak Covid-19. Ianya perlu bagi memastikan tidak berlakunya penyalah-gunaan kuasa, rasuah yang berleluasa, kembalinya kleptokrasi, dan pencabulan hak asasi manusia secara meluas.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Selasa 12 Mei 2020)

===========================

With our Multimedia Super-Corridor (MSC)  background, Malaysian Parliament should be one of the first Parliaments in the world to have virtual parliamentary meetings except that the  Perikatan Nasional  government wants to exploit the Covid-19 Pandemic to lockdown Parliament  and suspend  parliamentary oversight and scrutiny!

In fact, a survey of Parliaments world-wide will show that Malaysia is the only country whose Parliament is locked down and where there is no parliamentary oversight or scrutiny during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In most countries,  their Parliaments continue working to provide parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of government responses to the epidemiological and socio-economic situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and several Parliaments even set up special parliamentary Select Committees  on the Covid-19 pandemic.

For instance, the House of Commons in Canada set up a Special Committee on Covid-19 Pandemic on 20th April which will meet  by videoconferencing twice a week.

The New Zealand  Parliament  established the Epidemic Response Committee with government and opposition MPs to scrutinize government actions, while in the House of Commons in London, several Parliamentary Select Committees had held online inquiries into various aspects of government measures in the Covid-19 pandemic, ranging from how social distancing and lockdown conditions create new vulnerabilities for women and children living in abusive circumstances to human rights implications of the government’s overall response to the coronavirus crisis.

This is why the suggestion by several analysts and academicians for use of online platforms, like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Web Meetings and Google Meet, to conduct a full parliamentary meeting instead of having a ridiculous one-day sitting of Parliament on May 18 is unlikely to be given serious attention.

It is not that Malaysia does not have the information technology, but  what is lacking is the political will of the PN government to ensure a robust parliamentary oversight and scrutiny during the Covid-19 pandemic to prevent abuses of power, rampant corruption, revival of kleptocracy and widespread violation of human rights from rearing their ugly heads.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim kit Siang on Tuesday, May 12, 2020)

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Lift the restrictions on media coverage of Parliament on May 18

Tarik balik sekatan media untuk persidangan Parlimen pada 18 Mei

Kerajaan harus menarik balik sekatan media untuk persidangan Parlimen pada 18 Mei.

Persidangan Parlimen selama sehari yang tidak masuk akal sudah cukup buruk, ia merupakan cubaan untuk mengekang kuasa Parlimen untuk meneliti dan menyemak imbang tindakan kerajaan daripada berlakunya penyalah-gunaan kuasa, rasuah berleluasa, pengembalian kleptokrasi dan pencabulan hak asasi manusia.

Kini sekatan liputan media pula menambah “garam kepada luka” ini, yang akan menjadi permulaan cubaan untuk menyekat kebebasan media dan perhubungan di dalam negara.

Saya tidak percaya yang ianya mustahil untuk memenuhi permintaan pihak media untuk diberikan akses penuh liputan Parlimen dan pada masa yang sama mematuhi penjarakan sosial. Oleh itu, saya seru pihak Parlimen untuk berbincang dengan pihak media untuk membolehkan liputan Parlimen pada 18 Mei ini tidak bergantung sepenuhnya kepada “media rasmi”.

Liputan berat sebelah “media rasmi” di Sidang Dewan Undangan Negeri Melaka pada hari Isnin dan Perak menjadi contoh mengapa kebebasan akhbar tidak boleh dihadkan kepada “media rasmi” sahaja. Malah, terma “media rasmi” itu sendiri bertentangan dengan semangat media yang bebas!

Satu contoh utama perbezaan laporan di antara “media rasmi” dan media yang bebas adalah tiada pihak “media rasmi” yang memberikan fokus kepada kejadian di mana terdapat penceroboh ke dalam Sidang DUN semalam, yang dikira sebagai penceroboh kerana mereka tidak mempunyai kebenaran Speaker Dewan untuk berada di dalam Dewan dan mereka sebenarnya berniat untuk menghalau speaker keluar daripada dewan, yang merupakan satu jenayah memandangkan speaker sahaja yang berkuasa di dalam dewan — seperti yang berlaku kepada Speaker Perak V. Sivakumar pada tahun 2009.

Sekatan terhadap peranan Parlimen dalam meneliti dan menyemak imbang tindakan kerajaan semasa wabak Covid-19 ini telah menjadikan Malaysia bahan ketawa seluruh dunia.

Sekatan kerajaan untuk hanya membenarkan “media rasmi” sahaja membuat liputan di Parlimen ini akan memburukkan lagi imej negara di peringkat dunia kerana sekatan ini hanyalah satu cubaan untuk melanjutkan sekatan yang sedang dikenakan kepada kuasa dan tanggungjawab Parlimen daripada dilihat oleh seluruh negara dan dunia — satu perkara yang bertentangan dengan prinsip kerajaan yang telus, jujur, dan bertanggungjawab.

Pihak Polis juga perlu menggugurkan semua siasatan terhadap wartawan Tashny Sukumaran yang melaporkan tindakan pihak berkuasa yang menangkap pendatang asing tanpa izin.

Selama 22 bulan di bawah pentadbiran Pakatan Harapan, terdapat kebebasan baharu yang dapat dirasai dari segi kebebasan media, dengan negara kita melonjak 44 tempat di dalam Indeks Kebebasan Akhbar Dunia yang diterbitkan oleh Reporters Without Borders, daripada tempat ke 145 ke tempat ke 123 dalam tahun 2019 dan kemudiannya ke tempat ke 101 dalam tahun 2020.

Tidak sampai 100 hari memerintah, kerajaan Perikatan Nasional telah pun mula mengekang kebebasan media seperti yang dapat dilihat dengan kes Tashny dan peraturan yang mengehadkan liputan kepada “media rasmi” sahaja.

Adakah kedudukan negara dalam Indeks Kebebasan Akhbar Dunia akan meningkat atau menurun tahun depan?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Rabu 13 Mei 2020)

===============================

The government should lift restrictions on media coverage of Parliament on 18.

It is bad enough that it will be a one-day Parliament  sitting, making a complete mockery of parliamentary oversight and scrutiny against abuses of power, rampant corruption, revival of kleptocracy and widespread violation of human rights

But the restrictions on media coverage is adding “salt to injury” as it will be the thin end of the wedge to control information and communication to  impose media censorship in the country.

I do not believe that it is impossible to accommodate the media’s request to ensure full access to Parliament while adhering to effective  “social distancing” measures for the Parliamentary session on May 18  and I call on Parliament to discuss with media representatives  to ensure that parliamentary coverage on May 18 will not have to depend solely on “official media”.

The  one-sided coverage of the “official media”  of the  Malacca State Assembly proceeding on Monday and the even more  shocking coverage of the “official media” on yesterday’s Perak State Assembly proceeding are examples why media freedom cannot and should not be restricted to “official media” – which is in fact  a contradiction in terms, as the role of an official media is totally  different from the role of a free and independent  media!

A good example of the difference of the official media and a free and independent  media is that the “official media” did not zero in on the issue of the trespassers in the Perak State Assembly yesterday, to inquire as to why the “men-in-black” were trespassers as they did not have the Speaker’s permission to be present in the Assembly and whose real motive was the criminal one to  physically drag the Speaker from the Speaker’s Chair – as happened in the infamous episode in 2009 where  the  Perak Speaker  V. Sivakumar was physically dragged out  of  the Speaker’s Chair.

The lockdown of Parliament to impose a lockdown of parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of the government in the Covid-19 pandemic is already making the Malaysian Parliament a laughing-stock in the world.

The government’s restriction of media coverage of Parliament  to “official media” can only attract great international ignominy as it is nothing but an insidious  attempt to extend lockdown of parliamentary oversight and scrutiny to national and international oversight and scrutiny – the very antithesis of  an open, transparent, accountable  and responsible government.

The police should drop all investigation on journalist Tashny Sukumaran over her news report of authorities arresting undocumented migrants.

Under the 22-month  Pakatan Harapan government, there was “a breath of fresh air” in freedom of the press, with Malaysia jumping 44 spots in the Reporters Without

Borders (RSF) annual World Press Freedom Index in the past two years, from 145 to 123 in 2019 and then to 101 in 2020.

In less than 100 days, the Perikaatan  Nasional government  is already backsliding on press freedom, as shown in  Tashny’s case and the “official media” rule for Parliament.

Will Malaysia’s Press Freedom Index next year make further improvements or will it backslide?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Wednesday, 13th May 2020)

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It is not Covid-19 pandemic but Muhyiddin’s panic at Mahathir’s motion of no confidence that is responsible for the unparliamentary truncation of Parliamentary proceedings on May 18

Bukanlah Covid-19 yang menjadi punca pemendekkan sidang Parlimen, punca sebenarnya adalah ketakutan Muhyiddin terhadap usul undi tidak percaya yang dicadangkan oleh Mahathir

Perkara yang bertanggungjawab memendekkan sidang Parlimen pada 18 Mei ini bukanlah Covid-19, tetapi yang ditakuti oleh Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin adalah usul tidak percaya kepada beliau yang dicadangkan oleh Tun Dr Mahathir.

Tun Dr Mahathir menyatakan yang beliau mencadangkan usul tersebut untuk memastikan sama ada Muhyiddin benar-benar mempunyai sokongan majoriti di Dewan Rakyat seperti yang dikatakan beliau semasa beliau mengangkat sumpah sebagai Perdana Menteri pada 1 Mac 2020. Tetapi, jelas dapat dilihat daripada tindak-tanduk kerisauan Muhyiddin yang beliau kini masih tidak mempunyai majoriti yang dikatakan.

Pemendekkan sidang Dewan Rakyat pada 18 Mei kepada hanya mengadakan istiadat pembukaan Parlimen dengan penyampaian Titah Diraja sahaja ini bertentangan dengan peraturan mesyuarat.

Perdana Menteri telah bertindak di bawah fasal 11(2) dan 15(2) Peraturan Mesyuarat Dewan Rakyat.

Fasal 11(2) memerlukan notis sekurang-kurangnya 28 hari diberikan sebagai pemberitahuan takwim persidangan Dewan dan tidak ada sebarang kaitan dengan Aturan Urusan Mesyuarat Dewan yang disusun mengikut fasal 14 Peraturan Mesyuarat. Manakala fasal 15(2) pula tidak berkaitan langsung memandangkan ia menyatakan bahawa “hal ehwal kerajaan” disusun oleh pihak kerajaan.

Hujahan yang mengatakan pemendekkan persidangan ini selari dengan situasi semasa Covid-19 dalam negara yang masih berada di dalam fasa pemulihan juga tidak kukuh.

Pada 17 April, semasa notis pertama sidang Parlimen dikeluarkan, jumlah kenaikan harian kes Covid-19 berada di dalam julat tiga angka, di antara 110 dan 184 kes dalam minggu sebelumnya. Manakala pada 12 Mei pula, semasa Perdana Menteri menulis surat kepada Yang DiPertua Dewan Rakyat untuk memendekkan sidang, hanya 16 kes baharu direkodkan. Ini adalah angka terendah yang pernah dicatatkan sejak pelaksanaan perintah kawalan pergerakan (PKP) pada 18 Mac — yang merekodkan peningkatan 117 kes sehari — dan pada minggu sebelumnya, negara kita hanya mencatatkan peningkatan kes baharu di dalam julat dua angka.

Bolehkah Perdana Menteri menjelaskan kepelikan ini?

Adakah Perdana Menteri cuba mengatakan yang sehinggalah negara kita memenangi perjuangan melawan wabak ini — dengan sifar kes baharu dicatatkan setiap hari — Parlimen akan terus dikunci dan usul Tun Dr Mahathir akan terus disekat?

Pengarah Bencana Kesatuan Kesihatan Sedunia Dr Mike Ryan baru sahaja menyatakan yang wabak ini mungkin akan kekal selamanya.

Dalam memberikan amaran daripada sebarang cubaan untuk menjangkakan bilakah wabak ini akan beredar, beliau mengatakan, walaupun vaksin ditemui, usaha untuk membendung penularan wabak ini tetap akan memerlukan usaha meluas.

Hampir 300,000 nyawa telah terkorban di seluruh dunia akibat wabak ini dan lebih daripada 4.4 juta kes positif telah dicatatkan.

Adakah Parlimen Malaysia akan dikunci selamanya, dengan penelitian dan semak imbang Parlimen disekat untuk membenarkan kembalinya penyalah-gunaan kuasa, rasuah berleluasa, pengembalian kleptokrasi, dan pencabulan hak asasi manusia?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Khamis 14 Mei 2020)

==================================

It is not Covid-19 pandemic but the Prime Minister, Tan Sri  Muhyiddin Yassin’s panic at Tun Mahathir’s motion of no confidence that is responsible for the unparliamentary truncation of Parliamentary proceedings on May 18.

Mahathir said he submitted a motion of no confidence to question whether Muhyiddin truly had the support of the majority when he was sworn in as Prime Minister on March 1, 2020, but  Muhyddin’s panicky reaction demonstrates that even now, he does not have the majority numbers to survive Mahathir’s motion of no confidence.

The further  truncation of the parliamentary business on May 18 to only permit the delivery of the Royal Address by the Yang di Pertuan Agong violates the Dewan

Rakyat Standing Orders.

The Prime Minister had acted under  Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders 11(2)  and 15(2).

Standing Order  11(2) provides for 28 days’ notice  to be given for  “the dates on which the House shall meet” and had nothing to do with “business” of Parliament which is provided in S.O. 14, while  S.O. 15(2) is totally irrelevant as it provides that “government business” shall be set down by the government.

The argument that the further truncation of parliamentary business on May 18 is in line with the situation where the country is still recovering from the Covid-19 outbreak does not bear examination.

When on April 17,  Parliament first sent out the notice of the Parliament sitting on May 18, daily increase of Covid-19 confirmed cases was in three-digit figures, ranging from 110 to 184 cases the previous week, whereas on May 12, when the Prime Minister wrote to the Speaker, the daily increase of 16  Covid-19 confirmed cases has fallen to the lowest number since the movement control order (MCO) was imposed  on March 18 – which registered a daily increase of 117 cases – and in the previous week the daily increases were in double-figures ranging from  16-70 cases.

Can the Prime Minister can explain this anomaly?

Is the Prime Minister now saying that unless we have won the war against  the Covid-19 outbreak, with zero case, Parliament oversight and scrutiny will continue to be locked-down and Parliament will be unable to deal with Mahathir’s no-confidence motion?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) emergencies director Dr. Mike Ryan has just said in Geneva that the Covic-19 virus may never go away.

Warning  against trying to predict when the virus would disappear, he said that even if a vaccine is found, controlling the virus will require a “massive effort”.

Nearly 300,000 people worldwide have died because of Covid-19, and more than 4.4 million cases have been recorded.

Is Parliament in Malaysia going to be locked down indefinitely, and parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of the government suspended to allow for the return of abuses of power, rampant corruption, revival of kleptocracy and widespread violation of human rights?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Thursday, 14th May 2020)

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Immediate, humiliating and drastic demotion of Dewan Rakyat Secretary, Riduan Rahmat, even without the decency of 24 hours’ notice,  raises disturbing question about the PN government’s commitment to parliamentary democracy

Penurunan pangkat secara pantas, memalukan, dan drastik bekas Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat, Riduan Rahmat, tanpa memberikan notis 24 jam sekalipun, telah menimbulkan persoalan kepada komitmen Kerajaan PN terhadap demokrasi berparlimen dan prinsip utama Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang berasaskan doktrin pemisahan kuasa

Penurunan pangkat secara serta-merta, yang memalukan dan drastik terhadap bekas Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat, Riduan Rahmat, di mana beliau tidak diberikan notis 24 jam sekalipun, telah menimbulkan persoalan sama ada Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional komited terhadap prinsip utama Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang berasaskan doktrin pemisahan kuasa di antara cabang eksekutif, Parlimen, dan kehakiman negara.

Adakah ini satu cubaan bongkak oleh Kabinet untuk menunjukkan ketidak-puasan hatinya terhadap usul tidak percaya kepada Perdana Menteri yang dicadangkan oleh Tun Dr Mahathir yang telah diterima oleh pihak Parlimen? Perkara ini yang juga telah menyebabkan pihak Kerajaan memendekkan lagi persidangan Parlimen dengan mengehadkan aturan urusan mesyuarat kepada istiadat pembukaan dengan penyampaian Titah Diraja sahaja.

Di dalam notis tersebut, Riduan telah melampirkan takwim satu muka surat bagi persidangan 18 Mei ini dan perkara ini telah menimbulkan persoalan sama ada notis-notis yang pernah dihantar sebelum ini berkenaan dengan takwim Parlimen juga mungkin diubah pada masa hadapan.

Di dalam notis beliau yang dihantar kepada semua Ahli Parlimen pada 17 April, Riduan telah melampirkan takwim persidangan Parlimen yang telahpun disemak dua kali, dengan 25 hari persidangan bermula pada 13 Julai sehingga 27 Ogos, dan 36 hari persidangan untuk membahaskan Belanjawan 2021 bermula pada 28 September sehingga 26 November.

Takwim Parlimen untuk tahun ini telah pun diubah dua kali.

Di dalam notis beliau yang bertarikh 4 Mac, Riduan telah memaklumkan kepada semua Ahli Parlimen yang Parlimen akan bersidang selama 15 hari, bermula daripada 18 Mei sehingga 23 Jun (dengan lapan hari diperuntukan untuk perbahasan menjunjung Titah Diraja, lima hari untuk jawapan menteri, dan satu hari untuk lain-lain urusan hal ehwal kerajaan). Kemudiannya 17 hari persidangan bermula 27 Julai sehingga 27 Ogos dan diakhiri dengan 36 hari persidangan untuk membahaskan Belanjawan 2021 bermula pada 28 September sehingga 19 November — sejumlah 71 hari persidangan untuk tahun 2020.

Takwim bertarikh 4 Mac ini juga telah berbeza dengan takwim yang pertama yang dimaklumkan pada awal tahun ini oleh bekas Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat Datuk Roosme Binti Hamzah yang menyatakan Dewan Rakyat akan bersidang untuk 24 hari bermula 9 Mac sehingga 16 April, diikuti dengan 21 hari persidangan bermula 20 Julai sehingga 27 Ogos, dan diakhiri dengan 32 hari persidangan untuk membahaskan Belanjawan bermula pada 28 September sehingga 19 November — sejumlah 77 hari persidangan dalam tahun 2020.

Setakat ini, takwim Parlimen telahpun dipendekkan daripada 77 hari kepada 62 hari. Perbahasan Ahli Parlimen untuk usul menjunjung Titah Diraja juga telah dipendekkan daripada lapan hari ke empat hari.

Adakah takwim Parlimen akan dipendekkan lagi untuk tahun ini?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Jumaat 15 Mei 2020)

============================

The immediate, humiliating and drastic  demotion of Dewan Rakyat Secretary, Riduan Rahmat, where he was not even given the decency of 24 hours’ notice,  raises the disturbing question about the Perikatan Nasional government’s commitment to parliamentary democracy and the fundamental principle of the Malaysian Constitution on the doctrine of separation of powers among the executive, Parliament and the judiciary.

Is this the Cabinet’s  demonstration of its arrogance of power to express its displeasure that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s motion of no confidence had been accepted by Parliament, which also resulted in the further truncation of the parliamentary business on May 18 to only permit the delivery of the Royal Address by the Yang di Pertuan Agong?

Riduan’s last act as Secretary of Dewan Rakyat was to send out a notice dated May 13, 2020  to all Members of Parliament informing them that the business of Parliament on May 18 had been truncated to  the delivery of the Royal Address.

In the notice, Riduan attached a one-page “takwim” of the May 18 Parliament, leaving open the question whether the earlier notices on the Parliament  takwim this year would be subject to further  changes.

In his earlier notice of April 17,  Riduan had sent the twice-revised takwim of Parliament, i.e.  25 sittings of Parliament from July 13 to August 27; and 36 parliamentary sittings in 2021 budget meeting from 28th September to  26th November.

The  takwim of  Parliament this year  had already been changed twice.

In his notice to MPs dated  4th March, Riduan informed MPs that Parliament would meet for 15 sittings  from 18th May to  23rd June  (with eight day allocated to the backbenchers’ debate on the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address, five  days for Ministerial replies and one day on government business), 17 sittings from 27th July to 27th August, and  36 sittings for the 2021 budget meeting from 28th September to 26th November – making a total of 71 sittings.

This was itself at variance with the takwim for the first meeting of Parliament in 2020, which was sent out to MPs by the former Setiausaha of Dewan Rakyat, Datuk Roosme  binti Hamzah that  the Dewan Rakyat would meet for 24 sittings  from March 9 to April 16, followed by 21 sittings from 20th July to 27th August and finally for 32 sittings for the 2021 budget meeting from 28th September to 19th November 2020 – making a total of 77 sittings in 2020.

Already, the Parliament takwim this year  has been shortened from the original  77 sittings to 62 sittings. The backbenchers’ debate on the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address have also  been halved from eight days to four days.

Will there  be further slashing and reductions in  the Parliament takwim for this year?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Friday, 15th May 2020)

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Riduan should be immediately reinstated as Dewan Rakyat secretary as his humiliating and drastic demotion is an unconstitutional  punishment violating Article 65(2) of Malaysian Constitution

Riduan perlu segera dikembalikan sebagai Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat memandangkan penurunan jawatan beliau yang drastik dan memalukan itu adalah satu hukuman yang bertentangan dengan Perkara 65(2) Perlembagaan Persekutuan

Riduan Rahmat telah mencatatkan sejarah pelantikan terpendek sebagai Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat ke 13, beliau dilantik pada 22 Februari 2020 — tidak sampai tiga bulan!

Perkara ini adalah satu pengakhiran yang keji terhadap kerjaya Parlimen selama 31 tahun Riduan, beliau telah menyertai perkhidmatan awam pada 31 Januari 1989 sebagai seorang pegawai pentadbiran dan mula berkhidmat sebagai Setiausaha Dewan Negara sejak 8 September 2014.

Riduan perlu segera dikembalikan sebagai Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat memandangkan penurunan jawatan beliau yang drastik dan memalukan itu adalah satu hukuman yang bertentangan dengan Perkara 65(2) Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Perkara 65(2) memerlukan Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat — yang merupakan satu jawatan tertinggi perkhidmatan awam dalam negara — “dilantik oleh Yang di-Pertuan Agong daripada kalangan anggota perkhidmatan awam am Persekutuan dan setiap seorang hendaklah memegang jawatan sehingga dia mencapai umur persaraan paksa bagi anggota perkhidmatan awam am melainkan jika dia terlebih dahulu meletakkan jawatannya atau ditukarkan kepada suatu jawatan lain dalam perkhidmatan awam am itu”.

Riduan tidaklah “ditukarkan kepada suatu jawatan lain dalam perkhidmatan awam” tetapi telah dihukum dengan cara yang bertentangan dengan Perlembagaan dan juga dikenakan penurunan pangkat yang drastik juga.

Jawatan Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat adalah adalah lebih tinggi daripada Setiausaha Dewan Negara yang telah disandang oleh Riduan untuk hampir selama enam tahun daripada 8 September 2014 sehingga 21 Februari 2020. Beliau kemudiannya dinaikkan pangkat dengan dilantik sebagai Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat bagi menggantikan Datuk Roosme Binti Hamzah yang bersara setelah 12 tahun berkhidmat.

Kini, beliau telah diturunkan pangkat kepada seorang Setiausaha Bahagian pengurusan Dewan Negara, satu jawatan yang lebih rendah daripada jawatan beliau sebelum ini sebagai Setiausaha Dewan Negara, di mana pegawai yang merupakan junior beliau sebelum ini telah pun menjawat jawatan yang lebih senior.

Jika benar Riduan telah cuai dalam menjalankan tugas beliau sebagai Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat, maka perlulah adanya satu siasatan ke atas kecuaian ini kerana beliau tidak sepatutnya dihukum tanpa sebab ataupun siasatan yang menyeluruh.

Malah, memandangkan kedudukan tinggi jawatan Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat ini, Riduan tidak sepatutnya dibuang daripada jawatannya sebagai Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat “kecuali atas alasan dan dengan cara yang sama sepertimana seorang Hakim Mahkamah Persekutuan”, iaitu melalui tribunal.

Biar Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin menjelaskan sebab-sebab Riduan dihukum dengan cara yang bertentangan dengan Perlembagaan dan diturunkan pangkat secara drastik dan sama ada perkara ini telah dibawa kepada Kabinet untuk dipersetujukan ataupun ia hanyalah keputusan yang dibuat oleh Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri yang bertanggung jawab ke atas hal ehwal Parlimen.

Adakah Riduan dihukum kerana usul tidak percaya kepada Perdana Menteri yang dicadangkan oleh Tun Dr Mahathir untuk persidangan hari Isnin ini telah diterima oleh Yang di Pertua Dewan Rakyat?

Adakah perbuatan ini satu salah laku untuk dijadikan alasan kepada penurunan pangkat secara drastik dan memalukan untuk Riduan?

Biarlah satu tribunal yang menentukan perkara yang berkaitan dengan perlembagaan ini.

Dalam semangat ini juga, perlu difahami yang Menteri yang bertanggung jawab kepada hal ehwal Parlimen bukan Ketua kepada Parlimen, yang boleh mengarahkan Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat untuk bertindak mengikut arahannya, kerana perkara ini hanya akan menghina prinsip utama Perlembagaan Persekutuan iaitu doktrin pemisahan kuasa.

Individu yang berkuasa di Parlimen adalah Yang di Pertua dan Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat bertanggung jawab sepenuhnya terhadap Yang di Pertua Dewan Rakyat dan bukanlah Menteri Hal Ehwal Parlimen. Menteri hanyalah bertanggung jawab dalam urusan Parlimen kerajaan, dan perkara ini tidaklah menjadikan beliau seorang raja di Parlimen.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Sabtu 16 Mei 2020)

=================================

Riduan Rahmat is making history as having the shortest stint as the 13th  Dewan Rakyat secretary, as  he was appointed  to the post on February 22, 2020 – less than three months!

It is an ignominious end for Riduan’s parliamentary service for 31 years, as he  joined the civil service as an administrative officer at the Parliament of Malaysia on Jan 31, 1989 and has served as Dewan Negara secretary since September 8, 2014.

Riduan should be immediately reinstated as his humiliating and drastic demotion is an unconstitutional punishment which violates Article 65(2) of the Malaysian Constitution.

Article 65(2) provides that the Dewan Rakyat secretary, which is one of the top civil service posts, should be appointed by the Yang di Pertuan Agong, and “shall hold office until he attains the age of compulsory retirement for members of the general public service unless he sooner resigns his office or is transferred to another office in the general public service”.

Riduan is not being “transferred to another office in the general public service” but is unconstitutionally punished without cause and further subject to drastic demotion  as well.

The post of Dewan Rakyat Secretary is a higher post than Dewan  Negara Secretary, which Riduan had held for nearly six years from 8.9.2014 to 21.2.2020, until he was promoted to be Dewan Rakyat Secretary when Datuk Roosme binti Hamzah retired after serving for over 12 years.

Now, he has been demoted to Dewan Negara management secretary, which is even junior to his former post as Dewan Negara secretary, and his junior has become his senior.

If Riduan has been guilty of serious dereliction of duty as Dewan Rakayt secretary, there should be an inquiry into his misconduct, as he should not be penalised and  drastically demoted without cause or  proper inquiry.

In fact, in view of the high position of the office of Dewan Rakyat secretary, Riduan should not be removed as Dewan Rakyat secretary “except on the like grounds and in the like manner as a judge of the Federal Court”, i.e. by way of a tribunal.

Let the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, explain the reason for Riduan’s unconstitutional punishment and drastic demotion, and whether this matter had been brought to the Cabinet for approval or  whether it is solely the decision of the Minister for parliamentary affairs.

Is Riduan being punished because Tun Mahathir Mohamad’s motion of no confidence for Monday’s Parliament  had been accepted by the Speaker?

Is this a gross misconduct to justify the immediate, humiliating and drastic demotion of Riduan?

Let a tribunal of inquiry be established to decide on this constitutional matter.

In this connection, it must be understood that the Minister for parliamentary affairs is not the master of Parliament, who   could require  the Dewan Rakyat secretary to act under his directive as this will make the fundamental principle in the Malaysian Constitution on  the doctrine of separation of powers a mockery.

The master of Parliament is the Speaker and the Dewan Rakyat Secretary answers to the Speaker and not to the Minister for parliamentary affairs, who is  only responsible for the government’s parliamentary affairs and does not make him the King of Parliament.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Saturday, 16th May 2020)

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World offers a variety of lessons in Covid-19 pandemic – let us in Malaysia  learn  the best lessons instead of practising  the worst ones in containing the coronavirus and restarting the economic engine badly devastated by the pandemic

The world offers a variety of lessons in the Covid-19 pandemic – let us in Malaysia learn   the best lessons instead of practising  the worst ones in containing the coronavirus and restarting the economic engine badly devastated by the pandemic.

Today is full two months since the imposition of movement of control (MCO) on March 18, 2020.

The global picture of the  Covid-19 pandemic has undergone a sea-change in the past two months. It reached 178 countries and territories with 70 of them having reported fatalities, but today, the disease has reached 222 countries and territories, 183 of which have reported fatalities.

On March 18, 2020, total global cases had just passed the 200,000 mark with fatalities less than 9,000 deaths, about half of which were from China. Today, the global total of confirmed cases have  increased more than 21 times and passed the 4.7 million mark while fatalities have increased over 35 times with over 313,000 deaths.

When Malaysia imposed the MCO on March 18, we were the top 18th country in the world in terms of number of Covid-19 cases, and the top 33rd country in terms of Covid-19 deaths. We are now No. 52 in world ranking in terms of number of Covid-19 cases and No. 62 in terms of Covid-19 deaths.

We should not have to experience the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, but despite that, Malaysia had not fared too badly as in the past week, the daily increase of Covid-19 cases had ranged from 16 cases to 70 cases while the toll for the week had been five deaths.

Malaysians look forward to the day when there would be zero case and zero death, but this would not mean that we have won the invisible war against Covid-19, which is going to be a long and protracted one, with experts talking that it would take five years and not just 12-24 months for a vaccine to be developed and available widely.

Yesterday, Japan, Thailand, Iceland, New Zealand and Hong Kong were among the countries and territories which recorded zero case and zero death in the last 24 hours, but  this does not mean that they do not have to  continue the invisible war to contain  the coronavirus or that they do not have to develop and implement a strategy for  their economic recovery plan.

Japan, for instance, has 16,203 cases and 713 deaths from Covid-19. New coronavirus infections reached their peak in mid-April in Japan at more than 500 a day, leading the government to declare a state of emergency on 16 April, though the restrictions were less strict than those of other countries.

Today, Japanese leaders are striving to develop  an exit strategy and a roadmap for the future, balancing both human life and the economy.

There is on the one hand the horror stories in Europe and the United States where Covid-19 outbreak went on a rampage, as in Italy, from 35,713 cases on March 18 to the present 224,760 cases (increase by 6.3 times); Spain, from 14,769 cases to 276,505 cases (increase by 18.7 times); Germany, from 12,327 cases to 176,247 (increase by 14.3 times); France, from 9,634 cases to 179,365 cases (increase by 18.6 times); United Kingdom, from 3,269 cases to 240,161 (increase by 73.5 times); and United States from 9,296 to 1,506,169 (increase by 162 times).

The horror countries do not just come from the West. Brazil had on March 18 less cases than Malaysia, with 529 cases and four deaths but it had skyrocketed to become the world’s Top Third  Country with the most number of Covid-19 cases, more than China, with 272,043 cases (increase of 514 times),  more than the United States) and a toll of 2,537 deaths.

China was the top nation in the world  in Covid-19 confirmed  cases but in the last two months, it has lost out to  countries like Russia, Brazil, Turkey, Iran,  India and Peru.

When the MCO was imposed on March 18, there were three countries with four-digit death toll, namely China, Italy and Iran.

Today, there are 24 countries which have recorded four-digit death toll of over 1,000 Covid-19 deaths, led by the following 15 countries:

1. United States – 89,538

2. United Kingdom – 34,466

3. Italy – 31,763

4. France – 27,625

5. Spain – 27,563

6. Brazil – 15,633

7. Belgium – 9,005

8. Germany – 8,027

9. Iran – 6,937

10. Canada – 5,679

11. Netherlands – 5,670

12. Mexico – 4,765

13. China – 4,633

14. Turkey – 4,096

15. Sweden – 3,674

The United States should exceed 100,000 Covid-19 deaths by the end of this month.

But on the other hand, we have the success stories of South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam in the invisible war against Covid-19.

I have always advocated that Malaysia should learn from the mistakes and successes of other nations in the invisible war against Covid-19 in the effort  to develop  new norms to live with the Covid-19 virus in a pandemic world which is going to be as long as five years.

But Malaysia seems determined to develop the worst practices in the pandemic world by locking down Parliament and nullify parliamentary oversight and scrutiny  which will undermine public trust and allow the return of abuses of power, rampant corruption, revival of kleptocracy and widespread violation of human rights.

Already, serious questions are being  raised, from whether Parliament had been properly summoned for an Official Opening of a new Parliamentary session  by the Yang di Pertuan Agong to whether the Prime Minister and Cabinet have abused their powers with regard to the one-day Parliament tomorrow.

Will the one-day Parliament mark a new political scenario tomorrow?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Sunday, May 17, 2020)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 17 May 2020, 2:06 pm and is filed under
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At least, PN leaders are capable of  a world-class joke – one day to promise a world-class governance and the  next day to  destroy the basis for world-class governance by outlawing parliamentary oversight and scrutiny

Sekurang-kurangnya, kelihatan seakan-akan pimpinan PN mampu untuk membuat lawak berkelas dunia — menjanjikan pentadbiran berkelas dunia dalam satu hari dan keesokan harinya pula menghancurkan asas pentadbiran berkelas dunia dengan menghalang penelitian dan semak imbang Parlimen

Sekurang-kurangnya, kelihatan seakan-akan pimpinan PN mampu untuk membuat lawak berkelas dunia — menjanjikan pentadbiran berkelas dunia dalam satu hari dan keesokan harinya pula menghancurkan asas pentadbiran berkelas dunia dengan menghalang penelitian dan semak imbang Parlimen

Persidangan sehari Parlimen hari ini merupakan satu titik yang paling hitam buat Parlimen Malaysia sepanjang 63 tahun penubuhannya.

Hari ini menunjukkan satu Kabinet yang tidak menjunjung Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan prinsip-prinsip utamanya; doktrin pemisahan kuasa di antara cabang eksekutif, Parlimen, dan kehakiman, dan prinsip kedaulatan undang-undang.

Perbuatan adalah suatu perkara yang tidak akan dilakukan oleh mana-mana Kabinet yang menjunjung Perkara 43(3) Perlembagaan yang memperuntukkan “Kabinet hendaklah bertanggungjawab secara bersama kepada Parlimen”.

Dengan Parlimen dikunci dan sebarang penelitian dan semak imbang Parlimen digantung sehingga bulan Julai, kepada siapakah Kabinet sekarang ini bertanggungjawab?

Ini adalah satu perbuatan yang tidak boleh diterima oleh mana-mana menteri jika beliau ikhlas dan jujur kepada sumpah yang di bawah Jadual Keenam Perlembagaan yang diangkat di hadapan Yang di Pertuan Agong untuk “memelihara, melindungi dan mempertahankan” Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Malaysia kini mempunyai satu Kabinet yang secara terang-terangan menolak asas pembinaan negara yang berada di dalam Rukunegara.

Kita mempunyai Menteri daripada parti politik yang secara terang-terangan menolak Rukunegara sebagai asas pembinaan negara, tetapi ini adalah kali pertama virus anti-Rukunegara ini menjangkiti semua Jemaah Menteri yang akhirnya membawa kita kepada keputusan untuk Parlimen hanya bersidang selama sehari.

Ahli-ahli Parlimen sepatutnya telah bersidang lebih awal lagi untuk membahaskan cabaran-cabaran baharu yang datang dengan wabak Covid-19 — bagaimana untuk mengekang penularannya dan mengelakkan penularan semula dan juga kaedah bagaimana untuk negara kita membina semula ekonomi negara yang telah dirosakkan oleh wabak ini: dalam kata lainnya, membincangkan bagaimanakah negara kita akan hidup bersama wabak ini untuk jangka masa hadapan terdekat, yang mungkin berlanjutan sehingga lima tahun dan bukannya 12 ke 24 bulan seperti yang dijangkakan sebelum ini.

Adalah sedih dan tragik apabila persidangan Parlimen diadakan hanya semata-mata untuk memenuhi keperluan Perlembagaan supaya Parlimen bersidang setiap enam bulan dan bukannya bersidang untuk memastikan Malaysia mempunyai pentadbiran berkelas dunia yang berasaskan penelitian dan semak imbang tindakan kerajaan untuk memastikan hanya polisi yang terbaik dilaksanakan negara dalam menghadapi cabaran yang dibawa Covid-19.

Sepatutnya kita sedang membangunkan polisi dan amalan terbaik di dunia dalam peperangan melawan wabak Covid-19, sebaliknya negara kita kini mempunyai titik hitam di mata dunia sebagai tempat di mana berlakunya penyalahgunaan kuasa, rasuah berleluasa, pengembalian kleptokrasi, dan pencabulan hak asasi manusia.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Isnin, 18 Mei 2020)

=================================

At least,  the Perikatan Nasional (PN)  leaders are capable of a world-class joke – one day to promise a world-class governance and the next day to destroy the basis for a world-class governance by outlawing parliamentary oversight and scrutiny!

The one-day sitting of Parliament today is  the blackest day of  the Malaysian Parliament in the 63-year history of the nation.

It marks a Cabinet which does not accept the Malaysian Constitution and its fundamental principles of the doctrine of the separation of powers among the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary and the rule of law.

It is an act which no Cabinet which upholds Article 43(3) of the Constitution which stipulates  that “the Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to Parliament” would do.

With the lockdown  of Parliament and the suspension of parliamentary oversight and scrutiny until July, to  who is the Cabinet collectively responsible to?

It is an act which no Cabinet Minister would do if he or she is sincere and faithful to the oath of office which he/she  took before the Yang di Pertuan Agong under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution.

Malaysia has a  Cabinet which openly rejects the basis of Malaysian nation-building as set out in the five principles of Rukunegara.

It has Ministers from a political party which openly rejects the Rukunegara as the basis of nation-building but this is the first time that this anti-Rukunegara virus has infected all the Ministers resulting in the Cabinet decision on the one-day Parliament.

Members of Parliament should have met much earlier to address the unprecedented  challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic – how to contain the coronavirus outbreak and prevent a resurgence of Covid-19 as well as to quickly  revive  the Malaysian economy badly devastated by the pandemic: in other words, how to live with the coronavirus for the immediate future  which could last as long as five years  and not just 12 to 24 months as earlier thought.

It is sad and tragic that Parliament is meeting just to comply with the Constitutional requirement that Parliament should meet at least once in every six months, instead of ensuring that Malaysia has world-class governance based on robust parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of government polices to steer the country through the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic challenges.

Instead of developing one of the best practices in the world in the invisible war against Covid-19 pandemic, to the eternal shame and ignominy of Malaysia, the nation  is indulging in one of the worst practices in the world to enable the misuse of power, rampant corruption, revival of kleptocracy and widespread violation of human rights.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Monday, 18th May 2020)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 18 May 2020, 8:41 am and is filed under
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Where is the “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” exit plan strategy and blueprint in the invisible war against Covid-19?

Mana rancangan keluar yang melibatkan “keseluruhan kerajaan” dan “keseluruhan masyarakat” daripada peperangan melawan wabak Covid-19?

Banyak perkara dapat dikatakan mengenai persidangan Parlimen sehari semalam, daripada Titah Diraja terpendek hinggalah kepada bagaimana Malaysia telah melakarkan sejarah dunia dengan persidangan selama sehari sahaja di mana Ahli Parlimen memakai topeng muka bukan sahaja sebagai langkah berjaga-jaga melawan Covid-19 tetapi juga sebagai petanda tanggungjawab mereka untuk meneliti dan menyemak imbang kerajaan yang telah digantung bertentangan dengan perlembagaan negara.

Tetapi, satu benda dapat dilihat dengan ketara — Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional masih tidak menunjukkan kebolehan mereka mentadbir.

Duli Yang Maha Mulia Yang di Pertuan Agong telah menyatakan kegusaran baginda mengenai polarisasi perkauman, dan ramai pengamal politik kebencian, perkauman, dan keagamaan ini sedang menduduki jawatan tertinggi negara.

Baginda juga merujuk kepada prinsip-prinsip Rukunegara sebagai asas pembinaan negara, tetapi di dalam kerajaan masa ini, terdapat beberapa menteri yang tidak percaya kepada prinsip-prinsip Rukunegara ini.

Baginda juga memberikan amaran, yang negara kita tidak akan berjaya jika kita terus dibelenggu dengan masalah rasuah, pada waktu di mana keyakinan negara dan dunia terhadap usaha-usaha membanteras rasuah yang dimulakan oleh kerajaan Pakatan Harapan berada di paras yang rendah. Dengan tawaran rayuan di mana Riza Abdul Aziz dilepaskan tanpa dibebaskan daripada tuduhan pengubahan wang haram — yang melibatkan ASD248 juta (RM1.08 bilion) yang berkaitan dengan dana 1MDB — sebagai ganti kepada pemulangan ASD107.3 juta (RM465.3 juta).

Yang di Pertuan Agong juga bertitah mengenai membawa Malaysia ke kemuncak yang lebih tinggi, serta kepentingan kejujuran dan kepercayaan rakyat. Tetapi sehari selepas titah baginda, parti politik yang kononnya telah bersetuju untuk menubuhkan Perikatan Nasional kini menafikan sebarang persetujuan sedemikian.

Titah Ucapan Yang di Pertuan Agong ini adalah kenyataan dasar dan rancangan-rancangan kerajaan untuk tahun tersebut.

Apa yang jelas kehilangan daripada ucapan ini adalah rancangan untuk negara kita keluar daripada peperangan melawan wabak Covid-19 ini. Rancangan yang melibatkan “keseluruhan kerajaan” dan “keseluruhan masyarakat”, dengan Parlimen memainkan peranannya dalam meneliti dan menyemak imbang tindakan kerajaan untuk memastikan kejayaan negara dalam memenangi peperangan ini dan pada dalam masa yang sama mengelakkan penularan semula wabak ini dan melonjakkan semula ekonomi negara, sama ada dalam tempoh dua tahun atau pun lima tahun, sehinggalah satu vaksin yang berkesan dicipta dan tersedia meluas.

Ke manakah hala tuju kita, Malaysia?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada hari Selasa 19 Mei 2020)

==========================================

Many things can be said about the one-day Parliament yesterday, from the shortest Royal Address for the Opening of Parliament  to  how Malaysia has established the world record of a one-day Parliament with MPs wearing  masks  not only to combat the Covid-19 pandemic but to mark MPs rendered dumb with the unconstitutional  suspension of parliamentary oversight and scrutiny.

But one thing stands out – the Perikatan Nasional Government has not walked the talk in many fields of governance.

The Yang di Pertuan Agong expressed concern about “lurking racial polarisation”, and many of the foremost practitioners of the politics of hate, race and religion undermining national stability are now occupying important positions in government.

The Yang di Pertuan Agong referred to the nation-building principles of Rukunegara but under the present government, there are several Ministers who do not subscribe to the Rukunegara principles.

The Yang di Pertuan Agong warned that Malaysia will not be successful with the country continued to be plagued by corruption – at the very time when national and international confidence about the country’s anti-corruption efforts started by the Pakatan Harapan government  had been seriously undermined by the rotten plea bargain  where Riza Abdul Aziz was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) for money laundering involving US$248 million (RM1.08 billion) linked to 1MDB funds in exchange for his returning an estimated US$107.3 million (RM465.3 million).

The Yang di Pertuan Agong spoke about taking Malaysia  to greater heights and the importance of the honest and responsible exercise of the trust of the people, but one day after the speech, political parties which had allegedly expressed their support for the formation of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) political coalition on the eve of the Parliament are now  openly denying that they had ever reached such an agreement!

The Royal Address is the policy statement of the government of what it proposes to do for the coming year.

Conspicuously missing is the government’s exit plan strategy and blueprint in the invisible war against the Covid-19 pandemic, an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” approach with Parliament  playing its oversight and scrutiny role to ensure the nation’s success to win the multiple war of containing Covid-19 and prevent a resurgence and to quickly ensure the bounce back of the Malaysian economy whether it takes two years or five years before an effective vaccine is developed and widely available.

Quo Vadis, Malaysia?

（Media Statement by DAP MP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Tuesday, 19th May 2020）

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 19 May 2020, 4:23 pm and is filed under
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