PETALING JAYA: The MPs who recently hugged Lim Kit Siang must be placed under home quarantine and not allowed into Parliament, says Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

       The former prime minister said this after the 81-year-old Iskandar Puteri MP tested positive for Covid-19.

       "DAP MPs who had hugged Lim on Sunday (March 20) should be placed in quarantine and not be allowed to enter Parliament. Who knows, the entire House will be infected (with Covid-19) by them," said Najib.

       "Nevertheless, I wish all of them to be safe," he added in a Facebook post on Monday (March 21).

       Najib wished a speedy recovery to the DAP stalwart, but questioned inaction by the Health Ministry over the hugging pictures that violated present SOPs.

       "Why were AJL artists given fines? The Health Ministry isn't fining DAP. I don't have any bad intentions, but this is the group who had the most fun accusing me of violating SOPs, and KJ (Khairy Jamaluddin) even fined me many times as a result," said the Pekan MP.

       Najib was referring to the incident earlier in March where seven local artists were fined a total of RM7,000 by police for hugging on stage during the Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) event at the World Trade Center (WTC).

       His Facebook post contained several pictures of DAP leaders hugging Lim, among them Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng and Seremban MP Anthony Loke.

       In a statement by Lim's political secretary, it was said that he had conducted an RTK-antigen test in Parliament and had tested positive on Monday.

       Lim subsequently conducted a PCR test later which also came up positive.