Commentary by Chan Kok Leong

THERE has been an outcry over the past four working days since Putrajaya amended the Emergency Order to tap into the RM19.5 billion National Trust Fund (KWAN) for Covid-19 vaccination expenses.

Since then, however, there has been no accounting from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government on how the existing allocation for vaccines has been spent or why more funds are needed.

As such, when Bernama informed media outlets last night that Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz was scheduled to hold a press conference in Putrajaya today, the media sensed that this was the opportunity to get some clarity on the KWAN amendment and how the government planned to use this money.

But two hours before the scheduled 1pm press conference, Ministry of Finance officers told reporters that only government-controlled media outlets would be allowed to cover Tengku Zafrul’s press conference.

“Due to the new SOP (standard operating procedure), the minister’s press conference will be limited to invited media only as there is limited space due to social distancing restrictions,” said a ministry official on its WhatsApp group.

Further questions on whether Tengku Zafrul would have the press conference on Facebook Live, as is done by so many others, was met with complete silence from the ministry.

This is completely unacceptable as, pandemic or not, Putrajaya must be accountable to the public. With Parliament suspended, the government must give greater access to the media to ensure there is accountability and transparency in its actions.

More so when PN has passed two major financial amendments without any public consultation.

The first was to allow the government to spend taxpayers’ money without legislative approval and the second involved using the RM16-billion National Trust Fund (KWAN).

Very few complained when PN began limiting attendance to its media conferences to government-controlled media in March 2020.

With the country and the world facing the Covid-19 pandemic, the restrictions applied to Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s press conferences were justifiable.

Although non-government-controlled media were barred from Ismail’s daily announcements, Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s press conferences were open to all media groups where an average of 30 reporters would attend each day. Ismail’s press briefings are still limited to government-controlled media outlets.

Nevertheless, the constraints were accepted as part of the new normal that came with temperature checks, face masks and hand sanitisers.

But 13 months on, the circumstances have changed.

Malaysia no longer has a full national lockdown. The country has also started its national vaccination programme. And between the first movement-control order (MCO) last year and now, the government has reopened almost every sector except Parliament.

Since then, too, the PN government has held two Parliament meetings, flown ministers abroad and contested in the Sabah elections last year.

With many restrictions on public life lifted, there is no reason why the media should be stopped from performing its duty.

Particularly, when it involves RM19.5 billion of taxpayers’ funds. – April 26, 2021.