The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has made it clear, not once, but twice, that Parliament should reconvene.
Following Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s decree yesterday that Parliament should open immediately and for Malaysia to be governed by a strong and stable government, Putrajaya said it had taken note of the King’s wishes.
The Prime Minister’s Office, in a brief statement this evening, said that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was granted an audience with Al-Sultan Abdullah, where he had, among others, “advised the Agong on how the government was managing the Covid-19 pandemic, enforcing the Emergency Ordinance, and implementing the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, economic stimulus packages, opening of Parliament, and managing the National Recovery Plan.”
“Following the Agong’s decree, the government will follow up, based on the Federal Constitution and laws of the country,” the three-paragraph statement read.
Al-Sultan Abdullah, had in recent days, met leaders from political parties before chairing a Malay rulers’ meeting at Istana Negara yesterday.
Both Istana Negara and the Malay rulers issued a statement that stressed on the need for Parliament to reconvene and for there to be a stable and strong government.
The Agong, had in February, said Parliament could open despite the emergency. Lawmakers from both sides of the divide – including deputy speaker Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, have been vocal in demanding for Parliament to resume.
The state of emergency was enforced in Malaysia in January following the spike in Covid-19 cases. This was followed by a total lockdown nationwide that kicked in on June 1.
The latest lockdown only allows “essential services” to operate. After meeting Al-Sultan Abdullah on Tuesday, Muhyiddin unveiled the four-phased National Recovery Plan, which could see all economic and social sectors open by December.
Malaysia recorded 5,738 new Covid-19 cases today. Selangor continues to top the list with 1,858 new cases, while Negeri Sembilan saw 1,086 cases and Kuala Lumpur, 641 cases.
These are Twentytwo13’s news highlights.
CHARLES SANTIAGO: MUHYIDDIN SHOULD RESIGN FOLLOWING ROYAL DECREE
Klang MP Charles Santiago, said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin must resign after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah decreed Parliament must reconvene immediately.
“It’s heart-warming to see the Rulers and His Majesty, the Agong, empathise with the suffering of the rakyat, brought about by job and income losses,” said Santiago.
“This statement is bold and whacks Muhyiddin’s government. Muhyiddin has failed as the top-most leader in the country and the only honourable thing left for him to do is to step down.”
He added the government should revoke the emergency by August 1, in line with the call by the Rulers who have noted that it had failed to bring down the number of daily Covid-19 infections in the country.
GOVT DOING ITS PART TO HELP SMEs, SAYS TENGKU ZAFRUL
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been badly affected by Covid-19 and the ongoing Movement Control Order. To help them, RM12.12 billion had been approved via the SME soft loan fund by local banks as at June 4.
Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the soft loans operated by Bank Negara Malaysia would benefit 25,680 SMEs.
Another RM421.2 million was channelled during the same period to 12,667 micro SMEs, including in the retail and services sectors.
He added as at June 4, RM67.5 million had been channelled to 13,869 businesses in the form of grants and loans for the subscription of digitalisation services.
KHAIRY: HETEROLOGOUS VACCINATIONS A POSSIBILITY
The government is considering mixing two vaccines to boost efficacy against different Covid-19 variants.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, said the government is looking at real-world data from Germany on heterologous vaccinations using AstraZeneca for the first dose, and Pfizer-BioNTech as the second dose.
He added data indicates that this had boosted neutralising antibodies and was more effective against the different variants.
Meanwhile, the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has offered Covid-19 vaccinations to 40,000 workers in the construction industry to accelerate the vaccination rate for economic frontliners.
Senior Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said this had been approved by the National Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force.
“CIDB will coordinate and facilitate the implementation of the immunisation programme on behalf of the construction industry. This is part of CIDB’s contribution in helping construction industry workers during this difficult time,” he said in a statement today.
Fadillah said the price of the vaccination under the programme is RM140 per person for the two doses. CIDB would subsidise RM50 for each worker and allow its premises to be used as a vaccination centre.
“This means that employers would only have to pay RM90 for each of their workers to be fully vaccinated.”
The CIDB vaccination programme would be on June 30 in Kuala Lumpur, and July 14 in Selangor. Visit: http://vaccine.cidblink.com or call +603-4042 8880 for enquiries.
RELA’S ‘SIGN-UPS WITHOUT CONSENT’ POSSIBLY DONE BY MEMBERS TO MEET QUOTAS, FAST-TRACK PROMOTIONS
The People’s Volunteer Corps’ (Rela) ‘sign-ups without consent’ fiasco has opened a Pandora’s box on how a government registration system could have been misused by Rela members to climb up the ranks.
Speaking to Twentytwo13, a senior Rela officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a member who wanted to climb up the ranks was required to recruit at least 33 members.
MAHB SAYS SUBANG AIRPORT’S JET OPERATIONS, OVERLAPPING DESTINATIONS WILL HURT KLIA
Jet operations at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor, have been singled out as a “risk” that will adversely impact the KL International Airport (KLIA).
In a detailed 80-page Regeneration Plan, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) said with jet operations, the potential destinations served by the airport in Subang would be short- and medium-haul destinations – involving flight times of up to three hours.
“This could overlap potential destinations in Southeast Asia, South China and East India,” read the plan, which was sighted by Twentytwo13.
