PRIME Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and opposition pact Pakatan Harapan (PH) today agreed to work together to strengthen the parliamentary institution and for the executive to function transparently to effectively serve the people.

Ismail, in a joint statement with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, said the hour-long meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya discussed the agenda to ensure the people’s well-being.

“This is to find common ground to handle the Covid-19 crisis, to save lives and to protect everyone from the pandemic,” the statement said.

“It is also to free the people from their economic hardship following job and income losses.”  

They said they have also agreed to strengthen the functions of Parliament to become a responsible and constructive institution and to provide checks and balances on the executive to be more transparent and ensure the needs of the people are taken care of. 

They also agreed on the importance of judiciary independence and institutional reforms. 

They said the meeting was a follow-up to the advice by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for all political parties to work together to ease political tensions. 

After the meeting, Anwar told reporters that new measures to tackle the Covid-19 epidemic and prioritising the welfare of the people were among the main issues discussed.

“It was a good start for us to discuss better measures to handle Covid-19 and help the B40 who have lost their jobs,” he said.

“This is one of the most important points that we got across.” 

He said he also assured Ismail that if the opposition’s suggestions were considered, they will not have any problem with the current leadership and the political situation will be more stable. 

“We told him that if these suggestions are accepted and the programme that he will implement is for the benefit of the people, we will not complicate matters when a vote of confidence is called in Parliament,” he added. – August 25, 2021.