The nation sighed a relief at the Malaysiakini report that only five localities throughout Malaysia are red zones.

Data on active Covid-19 cases by locality (mukim) show that for the past one week, most states in Malaysia are turning into green zones.

Of the close to 1,200 localities monitored by the Ministry of Health, only five have more than 40 active cases each.

About 75 percent are green localities, with zero active cases.

In states of Perak, Kedah, Penang, Perlis, Terengganu and Kelantan, there are no localities marked as red or orange zones.

This means all localities in these states have less than 20 cases.

The coloured zoning of the country based on Covid-19 infections should he used as a basis for an exit plan strategy for controlled, phased and localised easing of restriction of movement.

We belong to a few countries which had succeeded in flattening the Covid-19 epidemiological curve and has not suffered the astronomical number of cases and massive number of deaths like the United States which now totalled nearly a million cases while more than 54,000 people had died in the outbreak (more than a quarter of world fatalities) or United Kingdom which is now the fourth country with the most number of daily increases of Covid-19 cases.

The 15 countries which registered the most number of increases in the number of Covid-19 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours are: United States 37,039 cases, Brazil 6,201 cases, Russia 5,966 cases, UK 4,913 cases, Spain 3,996, Peru 3,683 cases, Turkey 2,861 cases, Italy 2,357 cases, India 1,834 cases and France 1,660 cases.

One grim milestone reached in the invisible war against the Covid-19 pandemic is that the United Kingdom has become the fifth country in the world to record more than 20,000 Covid-19 deaths, while Brazil has become one the major epicentres of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should appoint a Commander-in-Chief responsible for easing the MCO restrictions and to implement the best exit plan blueprint which could strike a proper balance to prevent a resurgence of Covid-19 and ensure a quick bounce-back of the economy.

But there must be a minimum of red tape and bureaucracy, which is already a major complaint in the three phases of the MCO.

The country must be mindful of what the Prime Minister admitted yesterday that each day of the MCO, with most businesses shut, the Malaysian economy bleeds RM2.4 billion.

The Minister for parliamentary affairs and laws, Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan cannot be more wrong when he accused the Pakatan Harapan leadership of failing to see the right priorities when protesting against the one-day parliamentary meeting on May 18.

It is the Minister for parliamentary affairs himself who failed to get the right priorities in the Covid-19 pandemic, which is to save lives from being lost in the Covid-19 outbreak and then to strike the best and proper balance between preventing a Covid-19 resurgence and bringing about a quick revival of the economy of the country.

The Minister for parliamentary affairs is not the Master of Parliament, which is a total misconception of his Ministerial duties as well as the fundamental principle in the Malaysian Constitution on the separation of powers among the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.

Malaysia is probably the only parliamentary democracy the world whose minister for parliamentary affairs thinks that during the Covid-19 pandemic, there are no parliamentary affairs to be transacted – and at most, the Cabinet should just comply with the constitutional requirement that Parliament should meet once in every six months. Hence the genesis of the shocking idea of a one-day Parliament!

Can the Minister cite one example among the parliamentary democracies in the world where its Parliament is emasculated and marginalised during the Covid-19 Pandemic like in Malaysia?

He should realise that while Parliament is subject to the same public health and social distancing measures as schools, places of worship or businesses, in a time of crisis, the role of parliament is more vital than ever to pass emergency laws, allocate resources and scrutinize government action.

What has the Minister done to ensure that during the Covid-19 pandemic, Parliament and the various Parliamentary Select Committees can hold virtual meetings, including a digital Parliament session for 222 MPs, focussed on one and only one issue – the Covid-19 pandemic?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang onl Sunday, 26th April 2020)