Dr Dzul Tells Dr Adham Baba To Ask Ex-Home Minister Muhyiddin About The Tabligh Gathering
The former health minister said that the tabligh gathering could have been avoided had the then Minister of Home Affairs (Muhyiddin) wasn't "distracted" from his work at the time.
By Sadho Ram — 19 Apr 2020, 02:18 PM
Former health minister Dr Dzulkelfly Ahmad has taken to his Facebook page to "set the record straight" on the COVID-19 situation in Malaysia
Dr Dzulkefly's post comes amidst his successor claiming that the previous government had failed to contain the tabligh cluster, which grew to become Malaysia's biggest source of COVID-19 infections.
In his post, late Saturday night, 18 April, the former health minister said that the tabligh gathering could have been avoided had the then Minister of Home Affairs wasn't "distracted" from his work at the time.
When the tabligh gathering was held, Malaysia was without a government from 24 February to 29 February after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration was collapsed due to the political crisis caused by the current ruling coalition of Perikatan Nasional (PN) which came to power without going through an election.
He has been appointed since 10 March to head the COVID-19 task force in Selangor.
Image via Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad/FacebookDr Dzulkefly has suggested that before Dr Adham Baba hurls accusations on PH for failing to control the tabligh event, he should ask Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin about the gathering
Muhyiddin was in charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs portfolio when the four-day ijtimak tabligh gathering was held at Sri Petaling Jamek Mosque, as such it fell under his purview at the time.
"If there was a minister more aware of the situation on the tabligh gathering, it would have been the Home Minister, who is now the eighth Prime Minister," Dr Dzulkefly wrote on his post.
"Before the Health Minister hurls accusations at me he should ask him (Muhyiddin) if he knew about the event ... maybe he was not aware of it as he was busy with more serious 'agendas' that took his focus away from doing his job," he said, adding that "it's very disappointing that all our efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 were hijacked by the advent of the 'Sheraton Move' or 'Langkah Sheraton'."
According to him, the political crisis saw all COVID-19 prevention plans put on a two-week hiatus as no one was in charge of anything
"On 29 February, Muhyiddin was appointed as the eighth Prime Minister, was sworn-in on 1 March, and was only able to form a Cabinet on 9 March, therefore, causing more than two weeks of COVID-19 management to be without political leadership and strategy compared to before," Dr Dzulkefly wrote.
He then credited Dr Noor Hisham for his leadership during the "dark days of Malaysian politics" and urged Dr Adham to stop his politicking
"In conclusion, I urge the Health Minister to stop his politicking immediately especially now when the COVID-19 crisis is at hand and the Movement Control Order (MCO) is in place," he wrote.
"It would be more constructive if he can grasp the reality and severity of the situation and be a strong leader by showing leadership. Try to come up with an "Exit Strategy' based on data and evidence and guide of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to take steps to end the MCO."
However, just like his successor, the former health minister's statement of the record is factually incorrect with regard to the tabligh's dates
"To set the record straight, the rally at the Sri Petaling Mosque began on 28 February and ended on 3 March," Dr Dzulkefly wrote on his now-viral Facebook post.
Dr Adham claimed the gathering "happened from 27 February to 3 March".
Both, the former and the current Health Minister are wrong about the dates here.
The four-day tabligh gathering was held from 27 February and ended on 1 March, not 3 March.
We have fact-checked the correct date through Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
