New Year's Eve Celebration at Dataran Merdeka cancelled

PUTRAJAYA: The New Year's Eve celebration to welcome 2023 at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 31 has been cancelled due to the situation in several states hit by floods, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim

"Due to the flood situation and the hardships of the people, we have decided to cancel the grand New Year's Eve celebration on Dec 31 at Dataran Merdeka," he told a press conference after chairing the weekly Cabinet meeting here today.

Anwar said today's Cabinet meeting focused on the floods in Kelantan and Terengganu and that he himself will go down to Kelantan to assess the situation there this afternoon.

He said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who had already been to both states for monitoring and take some immediate actions, had briefed the Cabinet on the situation at today's meeting.

"I will go to Kelantan and announcements related to the floods will be made there after getting field reports and from the state government.

"Views were also presented to involve some voluntary bodies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in terms of welfare and aid, and greater involvement of the armed forces, (as well as) some existing assets will be utilised for that purpose," he said.

Anwar said the Cabinet meeting also briefly discussed the developments in Parliament the past two days especially the motion of confidence in the prime minister tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.

The Tambun MP received the support of the majority of MPs as the 10th Prime Minister after the motion of confidence was passed by voice vote after being tabled by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof and seconded by Ahmad Zahid.

"We can now focus on work, generating economic growth more rapidly because the mandate given is clear," he said, thanking Fadillah for tabling the well-received motion.

"Almost unanimous on the day (and) even if there was a vote, two-thirds (majority) vote was indeed assured.

"So I take this opportunity to thank all the parties in the Unity Government and coincidentally in this case no one objected from the opposition," he said.

He said the big mandate received was for the government to focus fully on ensuring more effective governance for the welfare of the people and the country.

-- BERNAMA