Call for meeting or else dissolve the Covid Special Committee, PM told

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the government should stop politicising the Covid-19 pandemic and call for an urgent meeting to address the rising tide of new infections.

17 February 2022

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has urged the Government to stop politicising the pandemic Covid-19 and call for a meeting to tackle the surge of cases in the country.

Lim who is also the Bagan MP said, it is best to dissolve Covid-19 Pandemic Management Special Committee if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob fails to call for a meeting.

“Either Ismail gets serious about his job as Chairman of the Committee, or dissolves this non-functional Committee as another empty showpiece.

“If the new wave of COVID-19 pandemic is a clear and present danger, there is no reason for why is there has been no meeting for the top COVID-19 national committee for more than 100 days.

“The time has come to follow other countries' examples of allowing the normalisation of public life and commercial activities by observing SOPS including mask mandates,” he said in a statement today.

Lim explained that the country has recorded its highest number of Covid-19 cases in a day since the pandemic began with 27,831 Covid-19 cases yesterday as compared to the previous high on August 26 last year of 24,599 cases.

Cumulative cases now stood at 3,111,514 and with 21 deaths yesterday taking the total death toll to 32,180.

“The glaring incompetence sadly signals continuous failure in managing the COVID-19 pandemic by successive Barisan Nasional (BN) and (PN) administrations.

“The serial failures are repeated, comprising Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) U-turns, policy flip-flops, double standards in both enforcement and compliance between VIPs and the ‘rakyat’ as well as leaders not committed to their duties.

“Further, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, incumbent Johor Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad and MIC president S Vigneswaran were caught mingling closely with a crowd of politicians at a MIC event in Johor in flagrant violation of Covid-19 SOPs,” he asserted.

He also mentioned that Hishammudin has ‘mutataed into a lawbreaker’ as aMinister chairing the Covid-19 Quartet Ministers' Meeting entrusted to urge public compliance with managing and announcing Covid SOPs.