KUALA LUMPUR (June 17): Veteran parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang has proposed a one-year "political moratorium", which can be extended to two years, in order to galvanise all lawmakers into one national priority — to win the war against Covid-19 and ensure coronavirus deaths do not exceed 5,000.

As of yesterday, the pandemic has claimed 4,142 lives in the country.

Lim noted that Malaysia has been in the midst of a constitutional impasse for more than a year, where no lawmaker had been able to command a clear majority in Parliament while the country is faced with an existential threat by the pandemic.

"I think this is a secondary issue and unless there is one person [who] could demonstrate clearly and convincingly outside Parliament this clear-cut parliamentary majority for him to become the prime minister, this issue must be subordinated to the existential threat of the Covid-19 pandemic," he said in a statement today.

However, the DAP adviser maintained his support for PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to become the prime minister, and his stand that current prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin does not command any clear majority in Parliament.

"Let me declare my personal position. I support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to become the prime minister of Malaysia because I think he is most experienced, competent and qualified to be the leader of a plural Malaysia," he said.

Lim echoed the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's decree yesterday that Parliament and the state assemblies should be reconvened as soon as possible and that there is no need for the emergency to extend beyond Aug 1.  

He called for an emergency cabinet meeting to act on the decisions of the Conference of Rulers' special meeting yesterday so that Parliament could comply with the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders and convene on July 19.

"Malaysians do not want any constitutional crisis in any form but a single-minded focus by every Malaysian, whether in the executive or the legislatures, to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic — and this must remain the nation’s single-minded focus whether it takes one or two years," Lim added.

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