NO EXTENSION OF EMERGENCY, REJECT MAGERAN AMONG UPKO'S NINE PROPOSALS TO KING
14 June 2021
By Ilona Andrew
KOTA KINABALU: The United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) has submitted nine proposals during a virtual audience with His Majesty today.
Its president Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau who was the 13th party leader to have been granted an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agon Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said the proclamation of Emergency did not add value to the efforts in curbing the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
The audience was done virtually today at 2pm.
"It even proved to have failed completely when cases soared to 9,020 from 2,232 cases on January 12 when the Emergency started taking place," he said during a virtual media conference via Zoom, today.
However, Madius disclosed there was no indication from the King that the Emergency would be lifted before the initial schedule.
"Parliament and State Legislative should also reconvene right after the end of Emergency. The suspension has resulted in limited political policy when it comes to decision-making," he added.
Madius added that the sitting is important to UPKO as it is a means of connectivity between the government and the rakyat.
He mentioned that the reconvening of Parliament needs to be strengthened with the establishment of sufficient select committees to ensure that all Members of Parliament from the Government and Opposition are given responsibility in decision-making for the sake of political stability.
Allocations should also be channelled so that the committee could function efficiently and conduct meetings frequently.
Other than that, Madius suggested that there is a need to establish a Confidence and Supply Agreement (CSA) between the Government and Opposition to maintain stability in politics and prevent party-hopping.
Taking Perak as an example, Madius said all MPs and assemblymen in the state are given an equal amount of allocation whereas allocations for MPs in Sabah are revoked, making it difficult for them to serve their people.
Because of that, some elected representatives choose to hop to (government-supporting) parties, he stated.
"Appoint senior leaders of Opposition parties to be part of the council so they can contribute their views on Covid-19 and economic situations."
UPKO also rejects the proposal to establish the National Operations Council (Mageran) where Madius reasoned that the party is not confident that it would help stabilise the political situation in Malaysia.
"The council does not involve the rakyat and the parliament thus it only depends on the wisdom of the members. Once there is a mistake, the people will be angered," he explained.
On another matter, Madius who is also the MP for Tuaran said vaccinations should be sped up, and opined that herd immunity would only be achieved mid next year with the vaccination rates still low at the moment.
He also reckoned that more vaccine brands should be approved as only four are approved in Malaysia as of the current.
"Give opportunities to large corporate companies like Petronas and Shell to procure their own vaccines under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.
"UPKO also welcomes the government's initiative to vaccinate illegal immigrants in Sabah but local people should be prioritised first," he said.
Madius also highlighted that assistance to the rakyat should be streamlined and expedited, one of which is to implement an automatic moratorium to those in accordance with their need instead of the target.
"Based on UPKO's observation, those in Sabah that have to undergo quarantine are not given any assistance such as food aid when they cannot go out (to get basic necessities)," he said.
In terms of education, he proposed that the provision of laptop devices be accelerated and broadband access expanded to help ease home-based learning for students.
"A quick research should also be conducted in every school to determine whether or not there is access to telecommunication.
"This is so that construction of telecommunication towers can be implemented where needed," Madius asserted.
Lastly, Madius stressed that the policies subject under the Movement Control Order (MCO) need to be better coordinated to avoid contradictions and confusion.
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