MP SPEAKS | Sixty hours to a major constitutional crisis in Malaysia

 

MP SPEAKS | Are we some 60 hours to a major constitutional crisis in Malaysia – which will be a double whammy for Malaysians, on top of the government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic?

The coronavirus has catapulted Malaysia to be one of the world’s dozen countries that are the worst performers in the pandemic, whether because of daily new cases or daily Covid-19 deaths.

If by midnight on Saturday – some sixty hours from now – there is no Royal Assent to the revocation of the six Emergency Ordinances as announced in Parliament on Monday by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament), Takiyuddin Hassan, Malaysia will be plunged into a major constitutional crisis.

The statement by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that Umno had no prior knowledge that the emergency ordinances had been “revoked” is one of many indications of a major constitutional crisis in the making.

There are at least five other indications to show that a major constitutional crisis is in the making, viz:

1. The statement by the Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa that the six Emergency Ordinances are still in the process of revocation;

2. The absence of any gazetting of the Royal Assent and revocation of the six Emergency Ordinances in the past week;

3. The inability of the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and the prime minister himself to declare that Royal Assent had been given to the revocation of the six Emergency Ordinances, despite being questioned in Parliament daily for the last three days;

4. The letter by the Parliament Speaker to the MP for Bruas, Ng Koo Ham, rejecting his motion to annul the Emergency Ordinances on technical grounds, instead of on the ground that the Emergency Ordinances had been revoked; and

5. The failure to inform MPs of the revocation when the six Emergency Ordinances were laid before the House.

This is a national tragedy, for it had distracted Parliament, in its special meeting, to focus singly on the Covid-19 pandemic, as the issue of whether the six Emergency Ordinances have been properly revoked have haunted the Parliament during the last three days of its sitting.

It showed this government to be in paralysis, unable to plan and to take action to ensure that when Malaysia marks its 64th National Day on Aug 31, the country will not be having more than 1.5 million Covid-19 cases and 1,500 Covid-19 deaths – nor reach two million Covid-19 cases and nearly 20,000 Covid-19 deaths when marking the 58th Malaysia Day on Sept 16, 2021.

What is the position of Attorney-General Idris Harun – on whether the six Emergency Ordinances have been revoked – to the government, to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and to the people of Malaysia? - Mkini

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LIM KIT SIANG is a DAP veteran and MP for Iskandar Puteri.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.