There have been calls for the Yang di Pertuan Agong to declare a state of emergency under Article 150 of the Constitution and suspend Parliament as a result of the third wave of the Covid-19 epidemic in Malaysia.

The third wave of Covid 19 pandemic in Malaysia is serious and alarming, but we must strike a proper balance as it has not reached a stage to justify a declaration of emergency and the suspension of Parliament.

Otherwise, Malaysia will have the dubious honour of having a backdoor government toppling a legitimate government after 22 months of a general election under the blanket of Covid-19 epidemic.

This sparked a second wave of the epidemic and the pandemic was exploited as a means for Muhyiddin to present himself as the saviour of the nation.

as  the top concern of all Malaysians was to focus single-mindedly on the war against Covid-19 whicbh  the political leadership of the backdoor government did  a lousy and atrocious job, sparking a third wave of the epidemic because of its lust for power to control the  Sabah state government – and then declaring a state of emergency and suspending Parliament to consolidate its power and crumbling hold of a parliamentary majority.

Under Article 40,  the Yang di Pertuan Agong  has to act on the  advice of the Cabinet in the proclamation of emergency under Article 150, as the Constitution stipulates  three situations where the Yang di Pertuan Agong can act on his own discretion, namely:

(a) the appointment of a Prime Minister;

(b) the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of Parliament;

(c) the requisition of a meeting of the Conference of Rulers concerned solely with the privileges, position, honours and dignities of Their Royal Highnesses, and any action at such a meeting.

The Muhyiddin Cabinet stands condemned for its failure to channel all available resources to Sabah to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, a negligence which is duplicated by the Sabah State Cabinet which has refused to appoint a State Health Minister to be the state commander-in-chief in the war against the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This omission and negligence must be immediately remedied by the Muhyiddin Cabinet and the Hajiji Sabah State Cabinet, but there is no justification for the invocation of Article 150 of the Malaysian Constitution  for the Yang di Pertuan Agong to proclaim a state of emergency and to suspend Parliament.

LIM KIT SIANG,

MP for Iskandar Puteri