PUTRAJAYA: Nearly 200 NGOs are pleading for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to issue a decree for political leaders to prioritise the lives of the people as the country battles the Covid-19 pandemic.

       In a memorandum, the 175 organisations – including Gerakan Pembela Ummah (Ummah) – called on the King to intervene and stop the conflict among political leaders and order them to think of the people instead.

       “Our concern is that if the current government is dissolved, no other groups have the majority to form a government.

       “If this happens, surely it will affect the country and will lead to instability. This will also affect all efforts to tackle the pandemic,” said the organisations in a joint statement yesterday.

       The associations noted that the Sultan of Johor and the Regent of Pahang had raised the issue and called on political leaders to cease attempts to garner power and focus on unity and well-being of the people instead.

       “All parties should take note of the concerns and disappointments expressed by the Rulers over the endless political crisis,” said the statement.

       “At a time when all parties should come together to tackle the pandemic, political leaders are fighting for their interests.

       “They are not making use of Parliament as a platform to find common ground to fight the common enemy, but have destroyed democracy for self-interest,” said the NGOs.

       They expressed their opinion that the change of Prime Minister and the Cabinet would be improper as they believed it would only cause further confusion among the people.

       They also opined that the lives of 32 million Malaysians should not be at stake just to satisfy a few power- hungry politicians.

       “There is no guarantee that a change in government or Prime Minister now will lead to the end of our fight against Covid-19 nor would it lead to economic recovery.

       “What we are worried about is that political strife will only cause the situation in the country as well as the fate of the people to take a turn for the worse.

       “Based on these reasons, we implore the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Malay Rules to put an end to the political conflict,” they said.