PUTRAJAYA: Malay-Muslim NGO Gerakan Pembela Ummah (Ummah) along with 175 similar organisations 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 with the Covid-19 pandemic.

       In a memorandum presented by the group of non-governmental organisations, they 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 the 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 on Friday (Aug 13).

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

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

       The NGOs said they were concerned over the power struggle at a time when the number of Covid-19 positive cases were breaching 20,000 and the number of deaths were high.

       “At a time when all parties should come together and work hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder to tackle the pandemic, political leaders are fighting for their ego and interest and not for the people.

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

       Expressing their opinion that the change of Prime Minister and the Cabinet at this point of time would be untimely, they believe it would only cause further confusion to the people and that the lives of 32 million Malaysians should not be put 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.