Photo shows the scene of the Dewan Rakyat sitting in Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama file photo
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15): The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) has called on political parties to focus on the rakyat’s plight now and not push for a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister in Parliament, its general secretary, J. Solomon said.
He said NUBE was greatly concerned of talks and speculations of political leaders collecting statutory declarations to gain majority support in Parliament recently.
“Like His Majesty the Sultan of Perak’s concern over the frequent change of state leadership in the last two years, we too feel such moves during a serious pandemic like Covud-19 does not help the workers and their families in Malaysia,” he said in a statement today.
In contrast, NUBE wants economic and political stability in Malaysia right now to enable the government under Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to do its best for the people, ensuring all help announced in Budget 2021 reaches the targeted groups.
Solomon said the Prime Minister took office during the most challenging times of 2020, and was confronted with the most serious socio-economic and health crisis of recent times. Yet, politicians began to undermine him from the time he took office, making it harder for him to focus.
”It is a terribly wrong time to try and bring down any government during a pandemic crisis, given the need for continuity in making policies to address contemporary issues and implementing them,” he said.
Among the major issues is the rising rate of unemployment that has been made worse by the push for digitalization and automation in all sectors of the economy.
In order to make things easier for the authorities to contain the fallout from Covid-19, NUBE is urging for a political ceasefire from all parties, including the ones in the ruling party as seen in the Perak Move where PN coalition partner Umno was responsible for the leadership change.
”We also hope the politicians on all fronts will allow Muhyiddin to continue the premiership until the next general election (GE), after Covid-19 is over. Only the next GE will resolve the current predicament of the slim majority the government has. Until then, let us strengthen our resolve, as Malaysians, to work together and overcome this COVID-19 crisis,” he said.
A steady hand and continuity is paramount to help the hundreds of thousands of workers who have been displaced. In the banking sector, scores of workers may find themselves out of job if their employers are allowed to carry out unbridled outsourcing even as the pandemic rages on.
He said: “Here, we are urging the PM to use his good offices to check on unscrupulous employers who are taking advantage of the situation to lay off workers.
”It is pertinent to emphasise here that most of these workers are from the B40 and M40 and some of these families live on daily handouts from the government, good Samaritans and NGOs. Many are already being asked to stay at home as their jobs are being readied to be outsourced to third parties within the country and elsewhere in the region. Their future is unthinkable especially for the security of the nation.”
Despite the gargantuan challenges faced by Muhyiddin, including lambasting and mocking by rivals, the Prime Minister has been able to confront those challenges, including the passing of Budget 2021 in Parliament during the first and second reading so far.
Solomon said the proposed budget may not solve all the challenges faced by Malaysians during this pandemic crisis. However, it will certainly ease the difficulties many Malaysians face if the allocations are expended for the intended purposes prudently by the relevant ministries with the noble intention of serving the rakyat.
Muhyiddin, in all his announcements and initiatives, has said that he wants to ensure all Malaysians stay united and safe so that “we will all survive the pandemic together”. Among others, his achievements, for workers in particular, are to convince the banks to provide the six-month moratorium and extension, wage subsidy and extension, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals.
He has repeatedly advised the employers not to retrench, deduct the salaries or withhold the salaries and NUBE welcomed it. These are actions which are necessary to assist the B40 and M40 workers.
”We, therefore, find that Muhyiddin and his government are taking all the necessary steps to recover from the pandemic. As such, it is best that he should be given the space to carry out his national goals without any threat to his position.
”We must admit to the fact that no one political party has the majority to form the government. PH was given the opportunity to form the government and they lasted for only 22 months. In addition, Muhyiddin did not grab the premiership from Tun Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) when he was the PM during PH government. He resigned on his own,” he said.
During this pandemic crisis, the need to embark on a no-confidence vote against Muhyiddin is only sensible if he has committed a serious misconduct or crime.
Otherwise, to move a motion of no-confidence at this juncture will be purely seen as an attempt to take advantage of his slim support and also to satisfy the desires of others wanting to become a prime minister. – Bernama
The post Don’t push for no-confidence motion, focus on rakyat’s plight, NUBE tells political leaders appeared first on Borneo Post Online.