Tue, 5 Nov 2024

As tensions rise within Perikatan Nasional, Najib pushes blame on Covid-19 resurgence on Bersatu.

On 15 October, 2020

Malaysia is now in the midst of an unprecedented political tornado. Infighting within Perikatan Nasional has caused former prime minister Najib Razak to point the finger at Bersatu over the recent resurgence of Covid-19.

While some of his observations are correct, Najib seems to have conveniently forgotten UMNO’s role in the third wave of Covid-19. Is he ignoring the fact that Musa Aman attempting to overthrow the Warisan government which ultimately trigged the state election in Sabah?

Not surprisingly, he also failed to mention how UMNO Supreme Council Member Razlan Rafii, who tested positive for Covid-19 caused an entire market in Sipitang to shut down after campaigning there without a mask.

***Razlan even shared the incriminating photos on Instagram.***

Former Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a lengthy Facebook post stated his reasons for why he believes UMNO should drop support for Bersatu.

***Najib griped that UMNO is blamed for the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia as a result of the Sabah state general election when it was the fault of Bersatu.***

He blamed the National Security Council (NSC) for rejecting the suggestion from the Health Minister, Dr. Adham Baba, who is from UMNO, to implement mandatory quarantine on those returning from Sabah before the state elections.

But the person who shot down Adham’s suggestion, when it was first made publicly on Nomination Day of the Sabah state general election, was none other than the UMNO vice president and senior UMNO Defence Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob described any report that a mandatory quarantine order to Malaysians travelling back from the state to the peninsula as “fake news” and declared that he would be the one responsible to announce any decisions made on Covid-19 travel restrictions, based on advice from the Health Ministry.

Najib also blamed the Bersatu’s Home Affairs Minister Hamzah Zainuddin for not properly isolating prisoners or observing the standard operating procedures (SOP) which caused the clusters in several detention centres in Kedah, Perak and Penang.

Najib said: “If such mistakes did not occur, there would not be a third wave of Covid-19 in Malaysia. And now, Umno is also being blamed for the third wave.”

***Clearly, Najib does not agree with Hamzah that “PN” stands for “Penyelamat Negara” as Hamzah had claimed in Sabah.***

In between the hypocrisy and blame game, we can’t discount everything UMNO has been saying regarding the pandemic.

UMNO leader, Nazri Abdul Aziz hit the nail on the head when he said that selective court prosecution was among the reasons which led to an enraged UMNO leadership mulling to withdraw support for the PN government.

***Selective prosecutions and double standards have certainly fueled distrust and anger from the public with Muhyiddin’s leadership.***

The only positive outcome from the current “Game of Thrones” amongst UMNO and Bersatu is the fact that UMNO is becoming more vocal about the obvious failings of Muhyiddin’s backdoor government.

It served no one when UMNO too stayed silent on the many mistakes this current administration has made and the lives that are put to risk daily because of it.

As for the rest of us, we can only sit back and watch the various contortions and political acrobatics that will take place over the next few weeks while we pray for an end to the pandemic and pray for an end to power hungry politicians.

This article was inspired by Iskandar Puteri MP, Lim Kit Siang’s press statement dated 15.10.2020