MALAYSIA is not a failed state but, rather, it is the government that has failed in carrying out its duties to successfully steer Malaysia out of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Rafidah Aziz.

The former international trade and industry minister was referring to a Bloomberg report that said the desperate plight of poor Malaysians plus the latest political shenanigans of the nation’s leading parties amid an open-ended lockdown are signs of the country’s descent into failed statehood.

“Of late, there has been debates arising from a foreign media report, which stated that ‘Malaysia is a Failed State’.

“I certainly would strongly dispute that. Malaysia is not a failed state. It is still the same blessed country endowed with what can propel it into the fraternity of developed nations,” she said in a statement.

Rafidah said the state of the country now is the fault of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, which has failed to effectively handle the Covid-19 pandemic to the detriment of the people and the economy.

“A major contributor to the depressing state of affairs that we are witnessing now is the incompetence of those who have installed themselves as the government of the day.

“It is a government that was not formed with the people’s express mandate, through the electoral process, but rather, as the world knows, through ‘attachments of convenience and self-serving agendas’ or, as is often referred to, as the backdoor government,” she said.

She added that the emergency, which has been in place since January 11 and slated to end on August 1, was merely an effort to avoid convening Parliament while its lockdown measures have brought nothing but distress.

“Transparency and responsible good governance have been replaced by an almost dictatorial approach to managing governance.

  “The public has been subjected to incoherent policy measures which have brought on more distress and problems than solutions.”

Rafidah also accused the government of “blundering along rudderless and clueless” in its fight against the pandemic.

“Clearly, a serial incompetent government is, by any measure and evaluation, a failed government.

Despite multiple lockdowns, and a large part of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur being under an enhanced movement-control order, Covid-19 cases continue to spike.

Yesterday, Malaysia reported 11,079 new Covid-19 cases, a new record since the start of the pandemic last year.

The already strained healthcare system has been put under even more pressure, with some hospitals converting their car parks into field hospitals to deal with the influx of new patients.

Currently, 972 patients are being treated in intensive care units, with 456 on respiratory support. – July 14, 2021.