KUCHING, April 4: The suggestion for a blanket ban on mass gatherings by another six to 12 months after the movement control order (MCO) is lifted was premature and needed more definitive guideline.
Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo questioned how the government could function effectively if Parliament is prorogued indefinitely due to the restriction on mass gatherings.
“Where there are 222 MPs and the rest of the personnel required for the effort? So there need to be more effective guidelines than blanket ban on mass gatherings for a long period such as six months or one year, in view of the situation, which may get worse before it gets better,” she said in a statement.
Yesterday, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah suggested that the country may continue to ban mass gatherings for the rest of the year even after the MCO is lifted.
The government might probably discourage mass gatherings for the next six months or one year, he told a press conference at Putrajaya on the latest Covid-19 situation.
Soo opined that the Sarawak government should not call for the sate election this year considering the Covid-19 situation.
She reasoned that economy is shattered and livelihoods are at peril for the ordinary people, where the rural population were also affected and barely surviving by the situation due to not having any income.
“To think of going to polls and politicking within the year would be most callous of any government,” she added.
On a different note Soo lambasted what she deemed as “cheap and unconscionable” politicians who capitalised on the Covid-19 situation by putting their names and faces on donated items, while claiming to save the poor.
She said politicians should not be displaying their names, including facial photographs and party names, when giving aid to the poor.
Soo suggested that the politicians should just display the Sarawak flag on the items, to show their sincerity and love for the people and nation, unconditionally. — DayakDaily
