AHEAD of a five-day Parliament sitting set to begin on July 26, Rafidah Aziz today fired off six questions to the government.

The iron lady, in her first question, asked Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who was her student in university, to inform the people what have the 70-plus cabinet members been assigned to do to help manage the Covid-19 pandemic.

“How many dialogues and discussions has each minister had, during the long lockdown free time?

“Is the prime minister asking for reports on how each ministry, and agencies under their purview, will operate in the new normal, the new environment, post-Covid?” she posted on her Facebook today.

In her second question, the former international trade and industry minister asked if Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and the government “will table, for public information, comprehensive reports on how public monies have been spent.”

“Please itemise the details, the amounts and the target groups, as well as the impact,” she said.

She also asked Tengku Zafrul to update the people the nation’s total public debt as of today, how much the government has borrowed during the pandemic period to date, how much of the National Trust Fund has been used, and for what purposes.

“How many Employees’ Provident Fund subscriptions have been withdrawn by subscribers, and how many have less than RM1,000 left in their EPF accounts for their retirement after the age of 75?

“Also, has an impact study been done, on the effectiveness of each package in helping recipients over the longer term?” she asked.

Rafidah directed her fourth question to the Education Ministry on measures being planned for delivery of education in the new normal, such as the retraining of teachers, reformatting educational content and effective evaluation of student performance at all levels and areas.

The former minister, in her fifth question, asked when will the respective ministries submit to the public new policies or initiatives that will be implemented once Covid-19 can be managed.

“This is to clear some concerns, that many ministers are not doing anything at all, especially in addressing the issues faced by their respective stakeholders in the society and the economy.”

In her last question, Rafidah sought the explanation of ministers in charge of society’s welfare, mental health and the most vulnerable in society on how they were addressing and managing the various and serious impacts of the pandemic, and measures to be taken going forward. – July 15, 2021.