KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 ― Former minister Lim Guan Eng today demanded the resignations of several Cabinet ministers, whom he accused of displaying gross incompetence in saving the livelihoods of Malaysians and managing the Covid-19 pandemic.
While not naming them, Lim said that the ministers responsible for health, tourism, welfare, human resources and economy must resign.
“Ministers responsible for health, tourism, welfare, human resources and economy must resign for failing to save jobs and businesses, especially the beleaguered tourism industry, and gross incompetence in managing the Covid-19 public health crisis,” he said in a statement.
“The PN government has succeeded in turning Malaysia into the worst Covid-19 Asean nation in per capita terms,” he added, pointing at the country’s worsening Covid-19 numbers.
The current health minister is Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba; Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister is Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri; Women, Family and Community Development Minister is Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun; Human Resources Minister is Datuk Seri M. Saravanan; while Finance Minister is Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, also known as Tok Pa, is the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of economic affairs.
“The Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal government has dismayed Malaysians by failing to announce any concrete and substantial financial package to rescue the economy following the extension of the movement control order (MCO) from February 4 till February 18.
“Whilst Chinese New Year celebrations will be muted and severely affected, what is of greater significance is the absence of an all-out commitment to save jobs and businesses,” Lim said.
Lim also took Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to task, accusing the latter of taking advantage to “secure his political survival following the loss of his Parliamentary majority, by suspending Parliament.”
He accused the PN administration of being in a “comatose” state, and doing nothing to overcome the dire situation of the tourism sector, which he said has lost RM100 billion in earnings last year alone.
Lim said that Malaysia has also lost foreign direct investments (FDIs) at a worse pace than other Asean nations, pointing to a recent United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s report which revealed that Malaysia’s FDI last year was down by 68 per cent, compared to the average contraction of the Asean region of 31 per cent and the global average contraction of 42 per cent.
He added that at a time many Malaysians are losing jobs and businesses through no fault of their own, ministers who failed to do their jobs must be replaced.
