KUALA LUMPUR (March 17): Pakatan Harapan Secretarial Council urges Putrajaya to also meet with the state government leaders of Selangor, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Sabah, and Pulau Pinang to coordinate efforts to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

In a statement, the coalition claimed these state chiefs had not been invited to a special meeting with state leaders on the Movement Control Order that was conducted by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today.

“Unfortunately, Pakatan Harapan is made to understand that [the] menteris besar of Selangor, Kedah and Negeri Sembilan, as well as chief ministers of Sabah and Pulau Pinang, were not invited to attend this special meeting.

“If it (the exclusion) was done only because they administer state governments not politically aligned with the current federal government, this shallow political action causes great loss to the people.

“It is common knowledge that the five states make up almost 40% of the Malaysian population, and the bulk of the Covid-19 cases also happened in these states,” the statement said.

Steps to control the Covid-19 outbreak, which does not take into account a part of the nation, will surely cause the containment efforts to fail, the coalition said.

“As such, the Pakatan Harapan Secretarial Council is calling on Putrajaya to immediately call for a meeting with these menteris besar and chief ministers for the well-being and the safety of the people in these states,” it added.