UMNO Ministers - take 5-month Cabinet leave for party election campaign instead of neglecting national duties

Umno Ministers are neglecting and abdicating their Cabinet and national responsibilities to gird the country to face the worst global economic crisis in 80 years because of protracted Umno party election politicking.

This could be seen from the absence of two Umno Ministers from Parliament during the winding-up of their Ministries on Thursday, namely Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

This is most shocking and irresponsible, as both Hamid and Hishammuddin are responsible for important Ministries at this critical stage when the country is faced with a crisis of competitiveness – a safe and low-crime society where citizens, investors and tourists are not increasingly worried about personal or property security as well as having an education system which could nurture a creative culture of talents for the country to climb up the competitiveness ladder with a core group of highly-educated and competent people in all areas of the economy.

I do not know how many of the 14 Umno Ministers who are to reply on behalf of their ministries in the next two days of the four-day Ministerial winding-up of the debate on the 2009 Budget will absent themselves from Parliament tomorrow and Tuesday, but Umno Ministers should be told in clear and no uncertain terms that if they cannot find the time to concentrate on their Cabinet and national responsibilities or even to discharge their most elementary parliamentary duties, they should take five-month leave from the Cabinet to conduct their Umno election campaigning without hindering and undermining the interests of the nation and people.

Let us see how many of these 14 Umno Ministers will play truant from their parliamentary duties in the next two days.

Lim Kit Siang