[UPDATED] King speaking up for ‘struggling’ rakyat, Anwar says of call for Parliament to sit soonest

KUALA LUMPUR – The decision by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Conference of Rulers to call for Parliament to be reconvened at the soonest possible time is in line with the people’s hope.

Describing the call as a rare precedent in Malaysian politics, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the king and his brother rulers are projecting the voice of the rakyat who are struggling in their day-to-day life amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are at the precipice now. This is simply due to the Covid-19 situation. We have told the government from the beginning, while imposing the MCO (movement control order) and lockdown, despite its reasons, it all starts with the vaccination drive.

The biggest failure of the government today is not preparing enough vaccine supplies for its people. They have been making random statements according to their political whims, not to lie, but to confuse the people.

“They claim 75,000, 100,000, 200,000 (vaccinations per day), but it is far off from our projections,” he said in his policy speech at the PKR congress, held virtually.

The Port Dickson MP said the Perikatan Nasional administration has a tendency to confuse the people with its messaging on the coronavirus situation.

“Based on the Covid-19 testing rate before this, (the government) conducted 128,000 screening tests, with positive cases at around 9,000 to 10,000.

“But now, they have reduced testing, reflecting fewer cases. This is perplexing, as data and science must be prioritised at all cost.

“All party members must be aware about these issues and research them so that the people can be enlightened, too.”

Despite the current MCO 3.0 in place, virus caseloads and deaths are still high, while some 2.1 million people remain unemployed, he said.

We are forced to take care of ourselves because the leadership has betrayed our trust and failed to fulfil their obligations and duty.”

He added that the government has failed to act urgently on vaccine procurement compared with its Asean neighbours.

Separately, Anwar expressed hope that PKR will be able to organise a “special congress” by year-end should movement controls be lifted, so as to enable face-to-face meetings among all party members.

Today’s congress, the first time the meet is held fully online in the party’s 22 years, saw the participation of over 2,000 delegates, who tuned in via Zoom.

Earlier, PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that the national congress for 2021 and 2022 will be held simultaneously next year, given the present circumstances.

He added that the central leadership council has agreed not to fill some vacant posts at the central level until party polls are held.

The matter was decided at a meeting on May 1, Bernama reported him as saying.

The vacancies include the posts of deputy president, vice-president and council members.

“With this, the running of the party at the central level will remain the status quo,” said Saifuddin Nasution.

Former deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and former vice-president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin left PKR last year. Xavier Jayakumar announced his resignation as vice-president and departure from the party in March.

PKR chief organising secretary Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the party has 2,028 branches nationwide, including 259 new ones registered this year.

“We’ve decided to have branches in polling districts for winnable seats targeted by the party,” he said in his welcome speech. – The Vibes, June 20, 2021