KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 — Opposition lawmaker Hannah Yeoh today urged the government to remove Senior Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein from chairing the Covid-19 Quartet Ministerial Meeting after he admitted to breaching pandemic regulations during an event in Johor yesterday.
The Segambut MP said the fine imposed by the Health Ministry on Hishammuddin is insufficient as he was in a position of authority that accorded him special officers who could head to the venue ahead and ensure proper physical distancing measures so he would not be caught in violation of the standard operating procedures (SOP).
“A fine is simply not enough, especially for a senior minister who sits on the front bench of the Executive and has been caught vaping in Parliament when the Health minister had declared war on smoking in the August House.
“In other countries, such admission of breach in SOP would result in resignation. It is my opinion that Hishammuddin should not be put in charge of managing and announcing Covid SOP at the national level anymore.
“How can Malaysians trust him to be deciding SOPs for us?” she said in a statement.
Yeoh made her demand first on Twitter yesterday, saying Hishammuddin should not be in charge of announcing Covid-19 public health measures at the national level after his breach as there could be severe repercussions from those who saw his example.
“Thank you for admitting salah tetap salah [a wrong is still a wrong]. It is my humble opinion that you should not be put in charge of managing and announcing Covid SOP at the national level anymore.
“In other countries, such admission would result in resignation. A fine isn't enough,” she tweeted.
Thank you for admitting "salah tetap salah". It is my humble opinion that you should not be put in charge of managing and announcing Covid SOP at the national level anymore. In other countries, such admission would result in resignation. A fine isn't enough. https://t.co/gQNFWUf0kD
— Hannah Yeoh (@hannahyeoh) February 13, 2022
The DAP politician noted that Hishammuddin has publicly admitted his error on Twitter even as he said it due to “weaknesses” by the event organiser while saying “no one is above the law”.
I attended as a guest and there were weaknesses on the part of the organisers to control the crowd. But as I said - salah tetap salah. No one is above the law including myself and this should serve as a lesson for us all. https://t.co/IsnRtYHKtd
— Hishammuddin Hussein 🇲🇾 (@HishammuddinH2O) February 13, 2022
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced yesterday that Hishammuddin and MIC president Tan Sri S. Vigneswaran will receive compound notices for breaching Covid-19 regulations during the Johor MIC political event in Iskandar Puteri.
Khairy added that he also told enforcement officers to issue a compound notice to caretaker Johor mentri besar Datuk Seri Hasni Mohamed over the Johor MIC Brigade launch that all three attended.
Johor will vote on March 12 with early polling on March 8. Nomination has been set for February 26.
Malaysia is experiencing a surge in Covid-19 infections that have been attributed to the easily transmissible Omicron variant.
The Health Ministry reported 21,072 new Covid-19 infections yesterday, nearly four times the 5,566 cases recorded at the start of February.
