KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – The King of Malaysia on Tuesday approved a coronavirus state of emergency that will suspend parliament at least until August and every offer to suspend a general election in a political postponement for the troubled Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Muhyiddin assured citizens in a televised speech that the emergency “was not a military coup and the curfew will not be enforced.” He said his civilian government would remain at the helm of affairs during the emergency, which would last until August 1 or earlier, depending on the situation.
The emergency statement came as a surprise just a day before millions of people in Malaysia’s largest city Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital Putrajaya and five high-risk states return for two weeks.
It also comes amid threats by the United Malaysian National Organization, the largest party in the ruling coalition, to withdraw support from Muhyiddin to force an early general election. Many in UMNO are unhappy that the party is playing second fiddle to Muhyiddin’s own Malaysian party.
Muhyiddin said the national parliament and state legislators would be suspended and no election allowed during the state of emergency. He promised to convene a general election once the crisis has eased and it is safe to hold polls.
Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said most people can understand the need for motion curbs, but an emergency statement seems too high because it is unclear how it could help spread the virus. delayed.
“It is very clearly a political move on Muhyiddin’s side to face political challenges from both his opponents in his ruling coalition as well as the opposition,” he said.
Malaysia last declared a state of emergency in 1969 after bloody racial riots that killed hundreds. The king, who can declare a state of emergency that allows the country to be ruled by ordinances that cannot be challenged in court, rejected Muhyiddin’s request in October to declare an emergency.
King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said at the time that existing laws were sufficient to stop the spread of the virus. But in a statement from the palace on Tuesday, the monarch said he was considering public safety and the country’s best interests in his consent after meeting with Muhyiddin late Monday.
The king said he was concerned because the pandemic had risen to a critical level and at the same time some parts of the country were struggling with floods that displaced thousands of people.
The virus cases in Malaysia have risen from just over 15,000 three months ago to 138,224, including 555 deaths, in a new outbreak caused by a local election.
Muhyiddin warned in the announcement of the closure on Monday that the country’s health care system is at a “breaking point”. He said daily cases of coronavirus, which has transgressed 2,000 over the past few weeks, could jump to 8,000 by the end of May if nothing is done. The Ministry of Health also said that the first case of a highly contagious British variant had been identified in the country.
Separately, Interior Minister Hamzah Zainuddin became the third cabinet minister to test positive for the virus for days, his office said on Tuesday.
Under the renewed curbs of Wednesday, social gatherings and interstate travel are banned and movement can be restricted within a radius of ten kilometers (6 miles), similar to a national exclusion in March 2020. Certain sectors in manufacturing, construction, services , trade and distribution, and plantations will be allowed to operate according to strict guidelines.
Muhyiddin assured investors that “Malaysia is open for business.”
“This period of emergency will give us the necessary calm and stability, and also enable us to concentrate on economic recovery and regeneration,” he said.
Muhyiddin took power in March after fueling the collapse of the reformist alliance that won the 2018 election and formed a Malaysian-centered government with the opposition. But his government is shaky with a razor-sharp majority in parliament.
Josef Benedict, a researcher at the rights group CIVICUS Monitor, said the emergency was apparently another attempt by Muhyiddin to ‘stay in power, block elections and remove parliamentary oversight’ rather than the pandemic. to address seriously.
“A dark day for democracy,” he tweeted.