Parlimen perlu segera menubuhkan Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Kesihatan dan Kebajikan Sosial, menjalankan sesi soal jawab mengenai “Pengurusan Covid-19” secara maya dan menyediakan laporan krisis Covid-19 dalam tempoh sebulan

Setiausaha Parlimen telah bertindak dengan tidak sepatutnya apabila beliau menghantar notis kepada semua Ahli Parlimen pada tiga hari yang lepas untuk memaklumkan bahawa mesyuarat Parlimen yang biasanya diadakan selama sebulan hanya akan berlangsung selama sehari pada 18 Mei ini berikutan perintah kawalan pergerakan (PKP) yang bertujuan untuk menangani penyebaran Covid-19. Beliau juga memaklumkan bahawa tidak akan ada sebarang “sesi pertanyaan jawab lisan, pertanyaan jawab bertulis, mahupun sebarang usul Ahli Parlimen mahupun sesi kamar khas ”.

Tindakan Setiausaha Parlimen ini telah mendahului kuasa dan fungsi Perdana Menteri, Kabinet dan Majlis Keselamatan Negara, malah keputusan ini dibuat seolah-seolah PKP akan masih berkuat kuasa seperti sedia kala pada 18 Mei.

Dari mana beliau mendapatkan maklumat ini?

PKP yang telah dua kali dilanjutkan, sepatutnya berakhir pada 28 April.

Masih tiada sebarang pengumuman sama ada PKP akan dilanjutkan selepas 28 April atau sama ada ia akan ditamatkan secara berperingkat. Jika PKP akan dilonggarkan secara berperingkat, sudah tentu satu pengecualian khas menjadi kepentingan kepada Parlimen, bagi membolehkan persidangan diadakan — secara maya atau apa sahaja cara lain — bagi memastikan pengurusan penularan Covid-19 tidak terlepas daripada penelitian dan untuk memastikan Malaysia mengguna pakai strategi keluar terbaik, di samping menyediakan pelan tindakan untuk Malaysia bukan sahaja bagi menangani risiko penularan semula wabak Covid-19, tetapi bagi menampung kesan impaknya terhadap pemulihan ekonomi rakyat Malaysia serta pembinaan semula negara.

Justeru itu, notis yang dikeluarkan oleh Parlimen pada tiga hari lalu tidak mempunyai ertinya, kosong.

Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin perlu mempertimbangkan semula isu persidangan Parlimen yang cuma berlangsung sehari pada 18 Mei ini kerana ia akan memperlekehkan institusi Parlimen Malaysia, terutamanya jika Usul Menjunjung Kasih Titah Ucapan Diraja ditunda sehingga sesi Parlimen Julai nanti.

Kawalan pergerakan yang dilaksanakan Perancis dan Sepanyol diluluskan sepenuhnya menerusi Parlimen. Mengapa peranan Parlimen Malaysia diketepikan dan dilumpuhkan dalam hal ini?

Sepatutnya, Parlimen Malaysia perlu segera menubuhkan Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Kesihatan dan Kebajikan Sosial, menjalankan sesi soal jawab mengenai “Pengurusan Covid-19” secara maya dan menyediakan laporan krisis Covid-19 dalam masa sebulan.

Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah semalam berkata bahawa Malaysia sedang kejayaan dan kesilapan China daripada pakar perubatan negara tersebut yang sedang melawat negara kita.

Ini adalah sikap dan pendekatan yang tepat dan bersesuaian. Meskipun tiada strategi mahupun rangka tindak yang betul-betul menepati keperluan semua negara bagi menangani wabak Covid-19, setiap negara harus belajar daripada kejayaan dan kesilapan negara-negara lain bagi merangka sebuah pelan keluar dan strategi yang bersesuai dengan keadaan semasa.

Kita harus belajar daripada semua negara di dunia ini – tidak kira China, Korea Selatan, Taiwan, Jepun, Vietnam, Singapura, Indonesia, Filipina, Amerika Syarikat, United Kingdom, Sepanyol, Itali, Perancis, Jerman, Australia, New Zealand, Turki, Iran atau Arab Saudi.

Korea Selatan dan Amerika Syarikat mencatatkan kes Covid-19 pertama pada tarikh yang sama iaitu 20 Januari. Namun hari ini setelah tiga bulan berlalu, Korea Selatan dianggap sebagai negara yang berjaya “meratakan lengkungannya” berbanding Amerika Syarikat yang dianggap gagal dalam menangani penularan pandemik Covid-19.

Korea Selatan semalam merekodkan hanya enam kes baharu Covid-19, dengan jumlah keseluruhan kes 10,661 dan 234 kematian sementara Amerika Syarikat merekodkan 762,496 kes positif Covid-19 dengan angka kematian dicatatkan melebihi 40,000.

Di Korea Selatan, 8,042 daripada 10,661 kes atau 75.4 peratus daripada keseluruhan kes telah pulih daripada Covid-19 berbanding 69,956 kes atau 9.2 peratus daripada kes yang dicatatkan di Amerika Syarikat.

Kita harus belajar daripada Korea Selatan dan mengelak daripada mengulang kesilapan yang dilakukan Amerika Syarikat. Kita harus terus belajar daripada kejayaan dan kesilapan seluruh negara di dunia dalam soal menangani Covid-19, kerana fasa pasca Covid-19 akan menjadi suatu situasi yang amat mencabar buat semua umat manusia dia seluruh negara.

Kita harus mengambil langkah yang tepat demi kesejahteraan negara, ekonomi dan rakyat.

Sebagai contoh, kita menghayati pengajaran daripada Jepun, di mana sistem kecemasan hospital mereka berada di ambang keruntuhan.

Hospital di Jepun terpaksa menolak pesakit kerana sistem kesihatan negara itu kini tidak dapat menampung jumlah pesakit yang ramai.

Dalam satu kes terbaharu, sebuah ambulans yang membawa seorang lelaki yang mengalami demam dan masalah pernafasan telah ditolak oleh 80 hospital dan dipaksa untuk mencari hospital lain di luar bandar Tokyo.

Semasa Malaysia menguatkuasakan PKP pada 18 Mac, Jepun mencatatkan 1,668 kes dengan 40 kematian. Hari ini, Jepun merekodkan 10,797 kes dan 236 kematian — keadaan yang boleh dianggap buruk tetapi tidak seburuk yang dialami negara-negara di eropah dan Amerika Syarikat.

Ekoran peningkatan kematian akibat Covid-19, Jepun kini sedang bergelut untuk memperluaskan kemudahan saringan secara pandu lalu.

Selama berminggu-minggu Jepun mengehadkan saringan Covid-19, meskipun didesak oleh pakar-pakar kesihatan yang melihat kepentingan melakukan saringan bagi mengesan dan mengasingkan pesakit, selain memperlahankan penyebaran wabak tersebut.

Kita harus kekal fleksibel, kreatif dan lincah dalam pendekatan kita melawan musuh yang tidak kelihatan ini — dengan mempelajari daripada kejayaan dan kesilapan negara-negara lain — supaya sebuah matlamat kolektif bersama dapat dibangunkan bagi menghadapi peperangan melawan Covid-19 – melibatkan semua tak kira mereka yang di puncak kuasa, di bandar, luar bandar, kampung mahupun estet.

Sinar harapan semakin menyinar di negara ini dan di negara-negara lain.

Peningkatan harian dua angka kes baharu positif Covid-19 selama kali ketiga berturut-turut menjadi bukti bahawa negara kita telah melepasi kemuncak gelombang kedua penularan koronavirus ini.

Kita juga berjaya mencapai pemulihan 59.3% pesakit daripada Covid-19, menjadikan Malaysia antara 16 negara tertinggi di dunia untuk pemulihan Covid-19 — didahului dengan China 93.1%, Vietnam 75.7%, Korea Selatan 75.4%, Austria 71.2%, Iceland 72.9%, Thailand 69.7%, Iran 69.4%, Switzerland 64.2%, New Zealand 63.7% dan Jerman 60.6%.

Di seluruh dunia, pemimpin-pemimpin negara sedang merangka pelan terbaik untuk strategi keluar daripada kawalan pergerakan yang mana akan memberi kesan kepada aktiviti sosial, ekonomi dan politik.

Keputusan ini harus dibuat dengan penglibatan seluruh negara dan bukannya segelintir pihak sahaja. Ini sebabnya mengapa Parlimen memainkan peranan yang penting dalam merangka strategi keluar.

Saya sekali lagi mengulangi gesaan saya supaya Perdana Menteri meletakkan kepentingan negara melebihi segalanya dan memastikan peranan Parlimen diperkasakan dalam merangka pelan tindak dan strategi keluar terbaik daripada PKP.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang pada Isnin 20 April 2020)

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The Parliament Secretary had acted most improperly in sending out a notice to all Members of Parliament three days ago that the normally month-long meeting of Parliament during its opening session beginning on May 18 will be a one-day affair because of the movement control order (MCO) to combat the spread of Covid-19, and that there will be “no oral question sessions, written questions, motions and special chambers” during the one-day sitting.

The Parliament Secretary is pre-empting the powers and functions of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the National Security Council and acting as if the MCO will still remain in its present form on May 18.

How does he know?

The MCO, which has been extended twice, is to end on April 28.

Whether the MCO will be extended after April 28 or whether it will be lifted in phases has still to be decided. If the MCO is to be lifted in phases, surely an important exception to any restriction of movement concerns Parliament, so that it could continue to meet – virtual or otherwise – to provide scrutiny of the management of the Covid-19 outbreak and to ensure that Malaysia adopts the best exit plan strategy and blueprint for Malaysia not only to contain any resurgence of Covid-19 in future waves of the coronavirus outbreak, but also to effect the revival of the Malaysian economy and the rebuilding of the nation.

The notice issued by the Parliament three days ago is therefore without effect.

The Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should reconsider the issue of a one-day meeting of Parliament on May 18 which will make a complete farce of the Malaysian Parliament, especially if the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address is pushed off to a July meeting of Parliament.

The Parliaments of France and Spain approved lockdowns and extension of lockdowns. Why is the Parliament in Malaysia emasculated and marginalised in the Covid-19 pandemic?

In fact, the Malaysian Parliament should urgently set up a Select Committee on Health and Social Care, hold virtual hearings on “Management of Covid-19 Outbreak” and submit its report on the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis within a month.

Health director-general Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said yesterday that Malaysia is learning from China’s successes and mistakes from the visiting team of medical experts from China.

This is the right and proper approach, as we should not try to invent the wheel. Although there is no “one-plan-fits-all” strategy and blueprint for the Covid-19 pandemic, every nation must learn from the successes and mistakes of other nations to come out with the best exit plan and strategy suitable for its peculiar condition and circumstances.

We should learn from all countries in the world – whether China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Iran or Saudi Arabia.

South Korea and the United States have their first case of Covid-19 on the same day on January 20, but today, some three months later, South Korea is regarded as having set the gold standard for “flattening the curve” while the United States is regarded as a disaster in the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

South Korea yesterday reported only eight new Covid-19 cases, totalling 10,661 cases with 234 deaths while United States has chalked up over three-quarter of a million Covid-19 cases with 762,496 cases and a total death toll exceeding 40,000.

In South Korea, 8,042 out of 10,661 cases or 75.4 per cent of the cases have recovered from Covid-19 as compared to 69,956 cases or 9.2 per cent of the cases in the United States.

We must learn the successes of South Korea and avoid the mistakes of United States. In fact we must maintain an attitude of learning from the successes and failures of all countries in the world, as the post-Covid era is totally unprecedented for humanity in all nations.

We must do what is right for Malaysia, for the Malaysian economy and for Malaysians.

For instance, we must learn from Japan, whose emergency medical system is now being pushed to the brink.

Hospitals in Japan are increasingly turning away sick people as the country struggles with surging coronavirus infections and its emergency medical system collapses.

In one recent case, an ambulance carrying a man with a fever and difficulty breathing was rejected by 80 hospitals and forced to search for hours for a hospital in downtown Tokyo that would treat him. Another feverish man finally reached a hospital after paramedics unsuccessfully contacted 40 clinics.

When Malaysia imposed the MCO on March 18, Japan had 1,668 cases and 40 deaths. Today, Japan has a total of 10,797 cases and 236 deaths – poor statistics but still a far cry from the catastrophic figures in European countries and the United States.

Alarmed by rising Covid-19 deaths, Japan is scrambling to expand testing with drive-through facilities and general practitioners helping to collect samples.

For weeks Japan has limited its testing for the coronavirus, despite calls from many health experts who see testing as vital to detecting and isolating cases and slowing the spread.

We must maintain a flexible, creative and nimble approach in the invisible war against Covid-19, to learn from the successes and mistakes by all nations to develop a common collective purpose in this battle – whether from the portals of power or the person on the street in the towns, slums, kampongs and estates.

But we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, both locally and internationally.

Malaysia’s third consecutive day of double-digit increase of Covid-19 cases is further confirmation that the country had passed the peak in the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak.

We have achieved 59.3% of recovery of Covid-19 confirmed cases, putting Malaysia among the top 16 countries for Covid-19 recoveries – headed by China 93.1 per cent, Vietnam 75.7%, South Korea 75.4%, Austria 71.2%, Iceland 72.9%, Thailand 69.7%, Iran 69.4%, Switzerland 64.2%, New Zealand 63.7% and Germany 60.6%.

All over the world, leaders are making plans for the best exit strategy from the lockdowns which will have considerable social, economic and political consequences.

This decision must be made by the whole nation and not only a section of the population – why the role of Parliament is so essential and fundamental if Malaysia is to have a responsible lockdown exit strategy.

I reiterate my call to the Prime Minister to put national interests above all other considerations and ensure that Parliament plays a full role in formulating the best exit strategy and blueprint from the MOC.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Monday, 20th April 2020)