PETALING JAYA: The Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration faces a harsher backlash from the public if it continues to ignore the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s wish for Parliament to reopen before August, say political analysts.
Bridget Welsh of the University of Nottingham Malaysia said the country was experiencing a “legitimacy crisis”, in which the government had failed in terms of performance, democratic credentials and maintaining support from traditional institutions.
“The challenge now is that Malaysia is moving towards a more authoritarian government, and if it continues to avoid the call for a parliamentary session, it will provoke a reaction from society,” she told FMT.
Welsh also said the country was in a precarious situation, where national decisions could not be made efficiently. In addition, businesses continue to close down, the number of reported suicides increase and some people are going hungry.
It also showed the significant disconnect between the elite and the political reality on the ground, she added.
“We’ve already seen considerable anger and frustration being expressed on social media. While everyone is conscious of Covid-19, I think that one cannot rule out that there could be a tipping point when the people will really react.”
Former academic Azmi Hassan said ignoring the royal call for Parliament to sit, which has been issued many times now, would reflect poorly on PN.
“It’s not often the King pushes for one agenda so hard, more so when the agenda is related to the political situation in our country, since the King and monarchs are above politics,” he said.
He said public pressure would be a “good supplement” to the pressure from the monarchy, adding that there was little room for PN to delay the next parliamentary sitting now.
Azmi also said statements from other ministers on the reconvening of Parliament were no longer applicable as the King had clearly expressed his wish for the next sitting to begin soon.
De facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan previously said Parliament could only convene after the Emergency ended on Aug 1, while senior minister Azmin Ali said the government planned to call for the next session at a suitable time.
“Parliament does not involve the whole country, it only takes 222 MPs plus additional staff to run it, so I think the ministers will have to think very hard to justify why Parliament still cannot reconvene.”
According to a joint statement by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun and Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim yesterday, the King wants Parliament to reconvene in July.
Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah gave his views to the two speakers as well as to Dewan Rakyat deputy speakers Azalina Othman Said and Mohd Rashid Hasnon during their audience with him on Monday.
Azhar and Rais also said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had been informed of the King’s wishes. - FMT
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