Chiew Chan Yew
BINTULU (Aug 20): The new cabinet needs both the government and the opposition to work together in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and save the economy, said Democratic Action Party (DAP) Bintulu branch publicity secretary Chiew Chan Yew.
He said the failure of the cabinet in fighting the war against Covid-19 the last 18 months is proof that a cabinet comprising only of the ruling coalition could not contain the pandemic
“Our politics cannot just dwell on personal political agenda, hand out of projects, money but have to go back to the basics of what we as a political party are here for and what are our values.
“We can only implement our policy fully when the ruling party and opposition work together in the cabinet at this moment.
“We have seen in the past how many of our policies and plans were not implemented fully when only the ruling party was in the cabinet and as a result Covid-19 soared,” said Chiew when asked on the formation of a new government under the ninth prime minister.
He called on the new government not to repeat the same mistake again.
He said the cabinet in fighting this Covid-19 war must include opposition members.
“If we still rely only on the ruling party to govern our country, we can see no breakthrough, the results of the past 18 months say it all.
“Though now that we have a new prime minister and cabinet, it is no more than ‘new wine in an old skin bag’, no one can really harbour much hope or dare desire for,” Chiew said.
In ordinary times Chiew added perhaps a single ruling party cabinet would be able to function but, in the face of the threats of so many deaths from Covid-19 and with the next general election is still 18 months away the ruling party and the opposition must work hand in hand now to save lives and the economy.
“Education is another matter which the government must solve during the pandemic,” he said.
For the past year, he said students have not been able to go back to school and by the look of the seriousness of the pandemic they may not be able to get back to school for a long time.
Chiew believed the whole world is watching the absurd political developments in the country.
“Being in the opposition we will stand firm on our ground to play our role to check and balance making sure that the government will listen to the voices of all our people when implementing their policies,” he said.