TAN Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should direct Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba to retract his Covid-19 quarantine rules, so as to uphold the prime minister’s own pledge that there will be no double standards in the standard operating procedures.
In October last year, Muhyiddin, in a televised special address to the nation on the latest Covid-19 situation in the country, pledged that there will be no practice of double standards when it comes to virus quarantine. He said he and his ministers are not exempted from adhering to the SOPs set by the Health Ministry.
He declared: “I, as prime minister, am not exempted from complying with the SOPs. This is the second time that I am observing home quarantine since the pandemic hit the country. I must comply with the rules.”
Muhyiddin said observing home quarantine along with him were seven ministers and six deputy ministers. All of them had attended a meeting chaired by Muhyiddin, where a minister was later found to be positive for Covid-19.
“They (ministers and deputy ministers) must comply with the rules. Action can be taken against them for breaching the rules,” said Muhyiddin.
He said Covid-19 can infect anyone as the disease does not differentiate between status and position, and that the SOPs must be adhered to by all.
The “air suam” health minister is irrelevant in the war against the pandemic, as the country has operated over the last year as if there were no such minister.
But, is the prime minister’s pledge to count for nothing, with the health minister having gazetted double standards with regard to compliance with Covid-19 SOPs for ministers, making nonsense of Muhyiddin’s assertion last October that “I am the most obedient person”?
At stake is not the credibility of the “air suam” minister, who has zero credibility, but that of the prime minister himself – whether his credibility is no better than that of the “air suam” minister.
In one of his telecasts to the nation last October, Muhyiddin said: “If anyone breaks the law, compounds and other punishments will be imposed, regardless of one’s rank or position. I’m sorry if ‘Abah’ starts using the ‘rotan’.”
Is he going to start using the “rotan” on his own health minister? Muhyiddin should also be mindful of the constitutional guarantee of equality before the law for all Malaysians, as entrenched in Article 8 of the federal constitution.
It is tragic that at a time when the government’s priority should be to restore public trust, confidence and support for the national strategy in the war against Covid-19, launching an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” strategy and approach, it is doing the opposite. It is doing everything possible to undermine public trust, confidence and support, like Dr Adham’s double standards for ministers when it comes to Covid-19 quarantine SOPs.
Is this the latest proof that the government now fully qualifies to be called a kakistocracy? – The Vibes, February 9, 2021
Lim Kit Siang is Iskandar Puteri MP
