In a press statement released yesterday, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang once again reiterated his stance that the government and opposition parties should reach a Confidence-Supply-Reform Agreement (CSRA) for the next 12-18 months.
A CSRA agreement is technically defined as an arrangement in parliament in which an opposition party agrees not to vote against the government to test their majority.
However the opposition will still retain the right to otherwise vote in favour of their own policies.
A CSRA agreement is helpful when the country is not looking for a change in government and the ruling Prime Minister’s majority may be questionable.
Kit Siang believes this will help put politics aside and allow the country to focus on winning the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Malaysian government has had three different prime ministers since the pandemic started gaining traction in 2019.
The political instability has added fuel to the fire of a country suffering with the health and economic effects of an unprecedented global pandemic.
The statement released by the Member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri was made in conjunction with the country’s upcoming 64th National Independence day, which he predicts will be a melancholic celebration.
Kit Siang cites three reasons why this will be “the most bleak and grim 64th National Day in the nation’s history”.
The first reason being Malaysian passing the 1.7 million mark for Covid-19 cumulative cases and which places the country at the No. 23 spot among nations with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases.
The second reason is Malaysia having fallen to the bottom of the Bloomberg’s monthly Covid Resilience Ranking of 53 economies of more than US$200 billion. The Bloomberg report noted: “The Scandinavian nation has administered enough shots to cover 60 percent of its population, kept fatalities at a very low level and opened its borders to vaccinated travellers. Low death rates, quick vaccine rollouts and an embrace of travel put the Netherlands and Finland second and third.
The third reason was the unveiling of the new Cabinet – which had been assailed from all quarters as “kerajaangagal2.0”.
Kit Siang argues that the new Cabinet strengthens the argument for a CSRA agreement to free the country from political maelstrom for the next 12 – 18 months so that the country can embark on economic and national recovery.
The proposal of a CSRA is aligned with PM Ismail Sabri’s promise to “put aside everything related to politics and fight the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The previous Perikatan Nasional government was seen by the public as continously playing political games to retain power. It is imperative that the new government does not fall into the same trap and set their priorities early on.
As of now, the priority must be to reduce the Covid-19 cases and deaths and then moving on to reopening the economy safely. Kit Siang believes the way to achieve this is through unity and adopting a whole of society and whole of government approach to combating the pandemic.
“We owe it to all Malaysians and future generations, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to put all differences aside to unite to fight this existential threat to win the war against Covid-19 so that we can return to normality and embark on economic and national recovery.” – Lim Kit Siang
The Rocket
