IT is said it is only during a crisis that one sees a person’s true colours. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to fore the latent lusts of Pakatan Harapan to claw its way back into Putrajaya, come what may.

With the pandemic in full swing and the worst yet to come, PH has not suspended its machinations in wrestling back Putrajaya which it lost in early 2020. The latest is opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s bid to have the court nullify the emergency declaration.

PH has also been courting MPs in Umno who are in favour of having a snap general election now – an idea that those without a Ph.D may have problems grasping. And then there are the unending baseless attacks against the government that serve only to demoralise our frontline health workers and put down the tireless bureaucrats trying to roll out measures to cushion the impact of the pandemic.

Seriously, do we need such political manoeuvres during one the most critical health crises the country has ever faced? Can’t PH just pause its bid to undermine the government until the pandemic blows over? There is a time for politics and there is a time to put lives and livelihoods first. Now is the time for the latter.

Yesterday saw new Covid-19 cases breaching the 4,000-mark. Our healthcare facilities are now at the brink of breaking point. Every day, weeping families pay their last respects to loved ones who lost the battle to Covid-19. Everyday, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Malaysians wonder how long more they could put food on the table, with the economy devastated by the outbreak.

Does PH want snap polls? Have we not learnt from the Sabah experience which sparked the third wave of the coronavirus outbreak in the country and whose effects we are still reeling from?

Can’t PH keep a lid on its lust for power, which it tasted for 22 months, and join the government’s efforts to battle the pandemic? The Perikatan Nasional government has rolled out a slew of initiatives like Penjana, Prihatin, i-Sinar and Permai schemes to help tide over Malaysians during these difficult times.

As PH schemes and plots to overthrow PN, the government brainstorms daily to throw up solutions and execute policies in containing the unprecedented pandemic that has ravaged not just Malaysia, but the entire world.

The country is in a crisis. Putting Malaysia back on track should be the main priority now.  Deciding who occupies Putrajaya can wait, else PH might as well change its name to Power Hungry. – January 21, 2021.

* Lokman Abd Halim is a Bersatu member from Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur.