Will the Cabinet address two historic challenges today or will it prove to be historic failure although it is the biggest Cabinet in Malaysian history?
The Cabinet has two historic challenges today.
Firstly, will the Cabinet discuss and decide to advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong to convene Parliament to spearhead a national mobilisation of Malaysians to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control by Malaysia Day on Sept. 16, 2021?
Secondly, will it discuss and set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry on Police Integrity and Professionalism and on how to turn the Malaysian police into a world-class police force?
Although we are not in the abysmal league of 21 nations led by United States, Brazil, India and the European nations which have a cumulative total of over a million to over 30 million Covid-19 cases and fatalities ranging from over 16,000 deaths in Netherlands to over 556,000 deaths in the United States, Malaysia is the worst performing-nation in East Asia and South-East Asia, as reflected by the February 2021 Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking which ranked Malaysia as No. 23, lower than Singapore (3), China (6), Taiwan (7), South Korea (8), Japan (9), Thailand (10), Hong Kong (13), Israel (14), UAE (15), India (16), Saudi Arabia (17) and Vietnam (18).
We are ranked No. 45 among countries in the world with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases – 335,540 cases with latest daily increase of 1,384 new Covid-19 cases - which is way ahead of Myanmar (ranked No. 78 – 142,264 cases) South Korea (No. 84 – 99,421 cases), China (No. 88 – 90,115 cases), Singapore (No. 100 – 60,221 cases), Thailand (No. 116 – 28,277 cases), Vietnam (No. 176 - 2,575 cases), Cambodia (No.183 – 1,788 cases) and Taiwan (No.189 – 1,007 cases), with daily increase of new Covid-19 cases ranging from one case in Taiwan to 401 cases in Thailand.
We have the dubious distinction of having one of the longest Covid-19 waves in the world – as the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia has lasted seven months from the super-spreader event of the Sabah state general election in September and we still cannot return to the triple and double-digit daily increase of new Covid-19 cases.
The Cabinet today should listen to the Yang di Pertuan Agong to advise him to convene Parliament (especially as the Prime Minister is the first to be vaccinated, as well as all Ministers and MPs) to mobilise the whole country as one united force to combat and overcome the Covid-19 pandemic to show Malaysia as one of the better performing nations in the world in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Let all political parties and MPs reach an agreement that during the emergency, there will be no no-confidence motion and Parliament will singly focus on the issue as to how to mobilise the nation as one unit to ensure an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” strategy and approach in the war against Covid-19 pandemic, enlisting the active support of the entire civil society – organisations and individuals – so that Malaysia can be one of the better performing nations not only in Asia but in the world where normalcy and economic recovery can begin in the last quarter of the year.
The second historic challenge is for the Cabinet to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into police integrity and professionalism and how to make the Malaysian police into a world-class police force.
The Cabinet cannot be indifferent to the recent revelations by the Inspector-General of Police, Abdul Hamid Bador that there is a cartel within the police force conspiring to get rid of him, police corruption and professionalism and how to make the Malaysian police into a world-class police force.
Is the Cabinet capable of rising to the historic challengs to address these two grave national issues or will the Cabinet prove to be historic failures although it is the biggest Cabinet in Malaysian history?