Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday faced calls to resign from both sides of the political aisle after the king rebuffed his proposal to call a COVID-19 state of emergency that critics saw as an undemocratic attempt to hold onto power.
Yassin’s proposal for the king to declare a state of emergency would have suspended parliament and let him dodge an imminent test of his support.
King Sultan Abdullah “is of the opinion that there is currently no need for His Majesty to declare a state of emergency in this country or any part of Malaysia,” the palace said on Sunday.
Photo: Reuters
Malaysia’s number of COVID-19 cases has doubled to 26,565 in just three weeks following a new outbreak, mainly in Sabah state on Borneo island.
Politicians from both sides of the divide, as well as legal and medical experts, have said an emergency declaration is unnecessary, and that there are sufficient laws to curb public movement and impose penalties to curb the outbreak.
Some have warned that declaring an emergency could ruin the economy and plunge Malaysia into a dictatorship. Emergency laws were last invoked nationally in 1969 during deadly racial riots.
The king in a statement said that the government has handled the pandemic well and he believed Muhyiddin was capable of coping with the crisis, though he also called for a halt to “all politicking” that could disrupt the government’s stability.
Muhyiddin hours later said that the Cabinet had noted the king’s decision and would further discuss the decree. Local media said that the Cabinet was expected to meet later yesterday.
“The priority of the Cabinet and the government at this time is to protect citizens from the COVID-19 disease,” Muhyiddin said in a statement.
He also welcomed the king’s advice to ensure political stability.
Muhyiddin took power in March, but holds only a two-seat majority in parliament. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim says that he has majority support, but needs the king’s approval to form a new government, and the biggest party in the ruling coalition is angry about being sidelined in Muhyiddin’s government.
A key test comes early next month when the government is due to seek approval for next year’s budget in parliament.
If Muhyiddin is unable to pass the bill, pressure would build for him to resign or call new elections.
A state of emergency could allow him to approve the budget without a vote and consolidate his support, and he could govern through ordinances that could not be challenged in court.
“In whatever way you look at it, indications are that the PM has realized that he has effectively lost his majority,” said Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, political science professor at Malaysia’s University of Science.
Despite the king’s rejection of the call for a state of emergency, his endorsement of Muhyiddin’s government could offer a reprieve and help the prime minister get the budget bill passed.
Two-year-old Xu Haoyang (徐灝洋) has likely just months to live — but the only medicine that can help his rare genetic condition is not found anywhere in China and closed borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic mean that he cannot travel for treatment. Instead, his desperate father, Xu Wei (徐偉), has created a home laboratory to create a remedy for the boy himself. “I didn’t really have time to think about whether to do it or not. It had to be done,” the 30-year-old said from his DIY lab in an apartment building in southwestern Kunming. Haoyang has Menkes syndrome, a genetic disorder
WIDE REOPENING DISCOURAGED: A study from Peking University has suggested that lifting restrictions in the style of the US, UK and others would be catastrophic China would face a “colossal outbreak” on a scale beyond anything any other country has yet seen if it were to reopen in a similar manner to the US. That is a prediction based on statistical modeling by researchers at Beijing’s Peking University. A switch from China’s current COVID-19 elimination strategy to a US-style approach with few restrictions would lead to as many as 637,155 infections per day, according to the study, which was published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday. That would be the largest daily figure reported by any country since the start of the
BURNING, LOOTING: The demonstrators called for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to step down over failure to deliver infrastructure, among other complaints Solomon Islands police yesterday fired tear gas in the capital, Honiara, as crowds of protesters set fire to buildings, including a police station, and looted shops in an eruption of anger at the government, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported. The protest was led by people from the Pacific nation’s largest island, Malaita Province, about 120km from the capital. They were demanding that Solomon Island Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare step down over failure to deliver promised infrastructure among other complaints, RNZ said. The protest began peacefully, but most schools and businesses in Honiara were closed by the afternoon as crowds tried to enter the
MOBS, TEAR GAS: Anti-government protests deteriorated and led to looting and arson, as the Pacific nation’s PM said he regretted a return to the country’s ‘dark days’ Rioters torched buildings in the Solomon Islands’ capital of Honiara yesterday, targeting the city’s Chinatown district in a second day of anti-government protests. Eyewitnesses and local media reported that crowds had defied a government lockdown to take to the streets. Live images showed several buildings engulfed in flames and plumes of thick black smoke billowing high above the capital. It followed widespread disorder on Wednesday, when demonstrators attempted to storm parliament and depose Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. Businesses operated by Honiara’s Chinese community were looted and burned, prompting Beijing’s embassy to express “serious concerns” to the Solomons’ government. The embassy “made representations
RSS