Audit report proves previous govt's success in battling Covid-19, says Syed Saddiq

Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman today said the Auditor-General's Report is proof that the previous government had successfully steered the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report shows that Malaysia managed the spread of Covid-19 better than other countries, including far-developed countries in Europe, in achieving high vaccination rates, the Muda president said in the Dewan Rakyat earlier today.

He commended the front liners in the health ministry for efficiently dealing with the pandemic and praised Khairy Jamaluddin for his competence in helming the ministry throughout the outbreak.

"The national audit report confirms that containment measures were implemented effectively. The shift from a pandemic footing to an endemic one is due to effective execution of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK)," he said.

"Not only was Malaysia ahead of schedule in meeting its vaccination rate target, we also managed the pandemic speedily and effectively compared to many other contries, not only in this continent, but also other developed countries in Europe."

The threat of Covid-19 was first detected in Malaysia in early 2020. The government, then led by Muhyiddin Yassin from Perikatan Nasional (PN), implemented the movement control order in March of that year to curb the spread of the virus.

As the country was facing an unprecedented public health crisis, Muhyiddin, who had lost majority support in Parliament, stepped down as prime minister and was succeeded by Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Khairy, who was the science, technology, and innovation minister at that time, took over Adham Baba as the health minister.

PICK helped the country successfully achieve its target of ensuring at least 80% of Malaysia's adult population are fully vaccinated by Sept 21, 2021, earlier than the initial target set for Dec 16 of that year.

"Although there were weeknesses and areas that could have been improved, we cannot downplay the positive aspects mentioned in the report," he added.