Chong Chieng Jen
KUCHING (Aug 27): Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak is of unanimous view that the meet-up between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri and PH leaders Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu is a positive political development in the country, said PH Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen.
He said this will be the first step to change from previous domineering top-down way of governing to one that seeks co-operation and consensus from both sides of the political divide.
“Such a change will not be possible if there is one dominant party or a very lopsided number of representatives between the ruling coalition and the Opposition.
“Therefore, it is pertinent upon the government to quickly set in motion concrete institutional reforms and economic revival policies proposed by PH so as to restore public confidence in the political system of the country and to save lives and our economy in the currentCovid-19 pandemic,” said Chong in a statement here yesterday.
Chong, who is also Sarawak DAP chairman, said concrete institutional reforms and economic revival policies proposed by PH include to save the economy, businesses and employment.
“Not only must the new government inject more funds into the system (an example of which is the RM45 billion fiscal injection as suggested by PH), there must also be a mechanism set up to monitor and oversee the actual implementation of such allocation to ensure that it actually reaches the people and businesses,” he said.
Besides that, he added, the institutional reforms and economic revival policies should also include ways to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“The government must immediately implement the mass testing and contact tracing strategy instead of the current restrictive number of testing strategy. In other words, the government should make free testing available to all,” he stressed.
At the same time, Chong said reforms and policies should also include restoring public confidence in our political system.
“The government must first and foremost enact the anti-hopping law to curb all party-hopping activities in future. It is only when the voters are assured that the winning candidates will not party-hop after being elected that they will have the confidence in our electoral system and the desire to vote.
“This includes the immediate implementation of Undi18 to acknowledge the role of young people in our democracy,” he said.
Therefore, he added, PH Sarawak urges that such measures be quickly announced and implemented for the betterment of the country.