In a televised address, Muhyiddin said they will be giving their wages for the months of June, July and August to the Crisis Trust Fund for Covid-19-related expenditure.

A petition was recently launched urging Muhyiddin, ministers, deputy ministers, MPs and state assemblymen to donate 50% of allowances to Tabung Prihatin.

It said the closure of Parliament and state assemblies due to the emergency hindered elected representatives from performing their democratic duties and competently administering to Malaysians’ needs during the pandemic.

The petition has garnered nearly 40,000 signatures so far.

Last year, when the movement control order first began, Cabinet members and their deputies gave up two months’ pay to the government’s Covid-19 fund.

In announcing the RM40 billion Pemerkasa Plus aid package tonight, Muhyiddin said Putrajaya had limited fiscal capacity to spend at this point in time, but would do its best to strike a balance between lives and livelihood.

He maintained that the total lockdown was not an easy decision but a necessary measure.

“Whether this lockdown is successful or not fully depends on you and God’s will. The government has closed nearly every economic and social sector to reduce people’s movement and break the Covid-19 chain of infection.

“Stay at home — I repeat, stay at home — and always comply with the SOPs. If you fail to follow this instruction, then we all fail,” he warned.

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