Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has challenged Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz to name a country in the world besides Malaysia that has suspended their Federal Constitution in order to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is after Zafrul downplayed the impact of Malaysia's emergency proclamation by pointing out that more than 80 countries in the world have also declared emergencies to fight the pandemic.
"It is inaccurate to liken Malaysia with 80 countries in the world that have declared emergencies.
"Malaysia is the only country in the world that used Covid-19 as an excuse to suspend Parliament and the Federal Constitution.
"Tengku Zafrul, name another country in the world that suspended Parliament (not postpone) and the Federal Constitution for seven months," said the Pekan MP on Facebook.
He added that many countries invoked emergencies because they did not have the legal provisions for a lockdown.
Najib, who was in July sentenced to 12 years in prison for abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust, has been critical of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's administration even though Umno is part of the federal government.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Muhyiddin had used the failure to contain the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to "wrongly" advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the emergency proclamation.
Lim said foreign investors won't be duped into thinking that the suspension of Parliament was genuinely due to the Covid-19 pandemic as the movement control order (MCO) is more than adequate.
"Even before the emergency was imposed, Fitch Ratings had downgraded Malaysia’s sovereign credit ratings last year, for the first time in 20 years to the same level as Indonesia and the Philippines, due to political instability and poor governance," said the Bagan MP in a separate statement.
Lim added that Muhyiddin leveraging the emergency after losing his majority in the Dewan Rakyat only exacerbates the political instability.
“Both Zafrul and senior minister Mohamed Azmin Ali are wrong to say that the emergency, and suspension of Parliament caused by political instability, will not scare off foreign investors.
"Are they implying that the emergency and suspension of parliamentary democracy will attract more foreign investment?" Lim asked.
He said even before the emergency, Muhyiddin appointing politicians to government-linked companies that control billions of ringgit already led to a deterioration in governance.
He added that foreign investors had also relocated away from Malaysia. This includes Hyundai, which is moving its Asia-Pacific headquarters for 33 countries from Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia.
He also pointed out that Indonesia outpaced Malaysia's foreign direct investment last year, attracting investments from the likes of Hyundai (RM4 billion), Toyota (RM8 billion), Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (RM20 billion) and LG Chemical (RM40 billion).
He said the government's Covid-19 strategy, including scaling back on testing Covid-19 close contacts who do not show symptoms, also does not inspire confidence.
"Foreign investors will not be impressed that Malaysia is the first country in Asia to suspend parliamentary democracy, a definite indication of chronic political instability.
"Therefore, the Perikatan Nasional government should stop being in denial, that the state of emergency and suspension of Parliament will not help to attract foreign investors when it is an admission of the PN government’s political instability, poor governance and failure to contain Covid-19 infections," Lim said. - Mkini
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