Pakatan Harapan lawmakers have opposed declaring an "emergency", deeming it unnecessary as existing laws were sufficient to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Soon after news of the plan broke, they came out in force to accuse Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin of using the emergency to suspend the Federal Constitution and avoid a snap election.
The move, expected to be announced soon, comes amid both rising Covid-19 cases and political pressure against the premier from both internal and external forces.
Taking to Twitter, former health minister and Amanah Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad said an emergency was not needed.
DAP Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran pointed out that countries with far higher Covid-19 cases did not resort to such a move.
DAP Bakri MP Yeo Bee Yin said that using the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) was sufficient to control the pandemic.
She further questioned if the prime minister was using an emergency to cling on to his position.
PKR Kota Anggerik state assemblyperson Najwan Halimi similarly questioned if the move was to keep the Perikatan Nasional government in power and to prevent Muhyiddin from losing a majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
DAP senator Liew Chin Tong cautioned the government against “short-circuiting” democracy as it would have negative effects on the nation.
PKR Tanjong Malim MP Chang Lih Kang also warned that an emergency would harm the economy.
As of 5pm, the word "emergency" and its Bahasa Malaysia equivalent "darurat" were the top trending topics on Malaysian Twitter.
The term “Muhyiddin out”, representing a rejection of the prime minister, was also trending.
Meanwhile, MCA secretary-general Chong Sin Woon noted that it was up to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare an emergency.
“The (Covid-19) epidemic is getting serious and the head of state (Yang di-Pertuan Agong) decides whether to issue a state of emergency,” he wrote in Mandarin in a Facebook post.
- Mkini
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