States have power over health matters, Azmin Ali told

Federal and state governments are jointly given power on health matters under the Federal Constitution, Parliament Federal-State Relations Select Committee chairperson Hassan Abdul Karim said.

Hassan (photo, above) pointed to the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, which lists the responsibilities of state and federal governments.

Matters of public health and prevention of diseases appear under the concurrent list, meaning both federal and state governments jointly have jurisdiction on these matters.

Hassan said this is a reminder to International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali, who warned that state governments could be sued by companies if they refused to reopen their economies following the implementation of the conditional movement control order (MCO) yesterday.

“Neither Azmin (photo, below) nor the federal government can rely solely on citing the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) to impose their will upon state governments to follow the federal government’s decision to reopen the economy on May 4.

“It should be reminded that ‘List III – Concurrent list’ of the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution has a higher legal status than Act 342,” Hassan said in a statement last night.

The Pasir Gudang MP urged the federal government to respect the power of state governments as Malaysia practises the federal system of government as spelt out by the Constitution.

Malaysia has begun easing movement control order restrictions and reopened its economy yesterday, but some states have imposed additional restrictions or are delaying the reopening of their economies altogether.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said that state governments and businesses may impose measures more stringent than the ones imposed by the federal government if they do not feel safe but are not allowed to relax the regulations.

However, Azmin warned that industry players may take legal action against the state governments if the economy is not reopened.

"Should they refuse to co-operate in implementing the Act, which has been gazetted into law enforceable throughout the country, the state governments may face the possibility of legal action from various parties, particularly the industry players," he said.

Azmin pointed out that various NGOs, including the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the Malay Chamber of Commerce of Malaysia, have urged states not to restrict companies from reopening yesterday.

Several Umno leaders have criticised the fragmented response from state governments to the conditional movement control order, saying that it shows weakness in Azmin’s leadership. - Mkini