Media statement by MP for Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang on 9 June 2021:
#KerajaanGagal96 – What is the use of the bloated Cabinet meeting every Wednesday when it does not have the political will or courage to take critical decisions affecting good governance and upholding the rule of law?
The Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong has said that he will present the report on the collision between two Light Rail Transit (LRT) trains on May 24 at the cabinet meeting today.
Wee said he is satisfied with the report prepared by a nine-member investigation committee, headed by Transport Ministry secretary-general Isham Ishak.
He said: “It was indeed professionally done, comprehensive in its details, and completed within the 14-day period given to them.”
The more important question is whether the report and its recommendations will be made public after the Cabinet meeting.
What is the use of the bloated Cabinet meeting every Wednesday when it does not have the political will or courage to take critical decisions affecting good governance and upholding the rule of law, as in making public the report on the worst collision of two LRT trains on the underground stretch between the KLCC and Kg Baru stations on May 24, 2021, leaving 166 passengers with minor injuries and 47 others needing hospital treatment?
In fact, the Cabinet had never been so irrelevant and inconsequential in the history of Malaysia than in the last five months of the emergency.
If Cabinet still play an important role in Malaysia, it must deal courageously with at least ten important issues:
1. Make public the report on the collision between two LRT trains on May 24, 2021.
2. Explain why Malaysia has become one of the worst performing nations in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic to the extent that the Japanese government had included Malaysia as one of the 10 countries which it wanted the Olympics Games organising committee to consider denying entry for its participants because of a surge in Covid-19 cases.
3. Reiterate topmost priority should be given to the Covid-19 pandemic and the national vaccination rollout to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 in Malaysia and overrule the Home Minister, Hamzah Zainuddin who wanted to launch raids and arrests of undocumented migrant which will drive them into hiding and refuse to co-operate with the national vaccination rollout.
4. Announce an amnesty for all undocumented migrants to secure their trust and confidence to co-operate with the national vaccination rollout to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 in Malaysia.
5. End the Covid-19 SOP flip-flops, U-turns, double-standards and frequent Ministerial dogfights whether Ismail-Amin or Hamzah-Khairy which have continued to undermine public trust and confidence in the government handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
6. Announce the time-line for each state to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 and to accelerate and complete the national vaccination roll-out by Malaysia Day on September 16, 2021.
7. Instruct the Home Affairs Minister to hold a public inquiry into every custodial death whether in police or prison custody, especially the cases of lorry-driver Umar Faruq Abdullah@Hermananthan, security guard S. Sivabalan, A. Ganapathy and Surendran Shanker who died after being held at the Simpang Rengam prison.
8. Respond positively to the call by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Gerakan Media Merdeka (Geramm) and National Union of Journalists (NUJM) alarmed by the frequent use of harassment tactics by the government towards the media.
9. End the emergency declared on January 11, 2021 to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, as the emergency is not the solution to the Covid-19 pandemic but an aggravating factor in worsening the deficit in public trust and confidence in the government handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
10. Convene Parliament immediately to firstly restore public trust and confidence in the government handling of the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and secondly, to spearhead a national mobilisation of Malaysians through a genuine “whole-of-society” strategy and approach in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and to accelerate the national vaccination rollout.
