Malaysia's political crisis has taken another turn today as opposition MPs attempted to enter the Dewan Rakyat grounds but were turned away as roads were blocked.
They gathered at nearby Dataran Merdeka and are planning to march on Parliament shortly.
Meanwhile, all opposition MPs from DAP, PKR, Amanah, Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), Warisan, Parti Sarawak Bersatu and Upko came together to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his cabinet.
Parliament was supposed to be in session today but has been called off, due to Covid-19 cases in the vicinity.
This came amidst fresh doubts over Muhyiddin’s grip on power following a rebuke from Istana Negara last week.
The palace had revealed that the ruler asked de facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan and Attorney-General Idrus Harun to ensure that the emergency ordinances were revoked through a debate and subsequent vote in Parliament, something which the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government refused to comply with.
It reprimanded the government for failing to act in line with the Federal Constitution.
The Prime Minister’s Office countered that Muhyiddin had already advised the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to annul the emergency ordinances even before the special Parliament sitting convened on July 26, and the Agong is bound under Article 40(1) of the Federal Constitution to act in accordance with the advice.
'Parliament is MPs' workplace'
10am: Dataran Merdeka - A number of opposition MPs from all opposition parties are gathering here as the roads leading to parliament have been blocked by the police.
Bandar Baru Kulim MP Saifuddin Nasution says Parliament is the MPs’ workplace and they will try their best to enter their workplace.
Opposition party leaders are taking turns to speak here first before they plan to march to Parliament.
“Step down Muhyiddin, long live the rakyat, long live His Majesty,” DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng chants at the end of his speech, along with the other MPs.
Also present here today are PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, Muda founder Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Pejuang president Mukhriz Mahathir and Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal.
The MPs gather at Dataran, march planned
9.50am: Opposition MPs have started to gather at Dataran Merdeka in preparation to march to Parliament after failure to negotiate entry.
Since earlier this morning, police Black Marias were seen on site around parliament, indicating preparation for arrests.
Personnel on duty include the Light Strike Force, aside from ordinary police and traffic officers at the designated roadblocks.
MPs gather at Bank Rakyat
9.20am: When contacted, Bandar Kuching MP Kelvin Yii said another group of MPs gathered at the Bank Rakyat building at Bulatan Dato Onn, about 1.5km away from Parliament.
"Roads are all blocked. We're not allowed in (to Parliament).
"So we may congregate at another location and march on," said Yii.
Roads to Parliament closed
9am: Major roads leading to the Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur have been closed in apparent anticipation against the attendance of opposition MPs despite the postponement of today's sitting.
Taking to Facebook, Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin posted a photo of him standing by the roadside with two other MPs.
"Parliament lockdown?! Entrance to Parliament all blocked by police.
"How can they do that?" he said.
Chan also shared another photograph of traffic police at a roadblock.
- Mkini
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