ON August 26, the prime minister announced his cabinet line-up. He appointed 31 ministers and 38 deputy ministers.

On the same day, 393 people died of Covid-19. On average, 238 deaths were recorded for the month of August, as of August 26.

On September 2, the prime minister announced three more appointments with ministerial status.

On the same day, 249 people died due to the coronavirus.

On September 4, the prime minister announced the appointment of his predecessor as National Recovery Council chairman with ministerial status.

On the same day, 362 people died of Covid-19.

The ninth prime minister of Malaysia has expanded his cabinet from 69 ministers and deputies to 73 since he took over office.

He was appointed prime minister largely thanks to the failure of his predecessor. So, one must wonder what the logic is behind the appointment of the “worst prime minister” ever in the history of Malaysia to lead the National Recovery Council.

As of yesterday, 17,883 people have died of Covid-19 in country. The first four days of this month have seen 1,219 fatalities. That is an average of 304 deaths per day.

Since the current prime minister took over office, we have seen 4,170 deaths as of yesterday.

Other than appointing more ministers, we have not seen any concrete plans to manage the epidemic/endemic.

If the death counts continue to soar, the target for the ministers, their deputies and respective ministries to prove themselves within 100 days looks a distant dream.

We aim to reopen many sectors, including schools. But the conflict where a large number of teachers refused vaccination has yet to be addressed. What have the authorities been doing all this while?

Opening up Langkawi for domestic tourism is a good move. But what about interstate travel?

The number of people who need to return to their hometowns to visit their loved ones, including elderly parents, is simply staggering. This is also one of the reasons why many are distressed and experiencing a deterioration of their mental health.

While the MPs debate the standard operating procedures, the size of the cabinet and the legitimacy of the prime minister in the Dewan Rakyat, more people are going to die. More chaos is expected when the schools reopen. What we need is leadership. A sense of accountability and for one with substance to lead.

Malaysia Family or not, your sheer lack of responsibility is damaging. Is killing. Take the lead to save lives and not just focus on the political survival of yourself and your political masters. – September 5, 2021.

* Abdul Haleem reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.