KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – The Malaysian king on Tuesday approved a coronavirus emergency that will suspend parliament at least until August and stop all bids to seek general elections in a process of political amortization for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who confronted.
Muhyiddin assured citizens in a televised speech that the emergency “was not a military coup and that the curfew will not be applied.” He said his civilian government will remain in office during the emergency, which will last until August 1 or sooner depending on the situation.
The declaration of emergency surprised just one day before millions of people in Malaysia’s largest city, Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital Putrajaya and five high-risk states returned to a practical closure for two weeks.
It also comes amid threats from the United Nations National Organization, the largest party in the ruling coalition, to withdraw Muhyiddin’s support to force early general elections. Many of UMNO are not happy that the party will play the second violin of the Malay festival of Muhyiddin.
Muhyiddin said the national parliament and state legislatures will be suspended and elections will not be allowed during the emergency. He pledged to call a general election once the crisis has abated and it is safe to hold ballot boxes.
Oh Ei Sun, a senior member of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said most people could understand the need to curb the movement, but an emergency statement appeared overwhelmed as it is unclear how this could help slow the spread of the virus.
“It is very clear that this is a political movement from Muhyiddin’s side to avoid the political challenges of both his ruling coalition rivals and the opposition,” he said.
Malaysia last declared an emergency in 1969 after bloody racial riots that killed hundreds. The king, who can declare a state of emergency allowing the country to be governed by ordinances that cannot be challenged in the courts, had rejected in October Muhyiddin’s request to declare an emergency.
King Sultan Abdullah, Sultan Ahmad Shah, said at the time that existing laws were enough to stop the spread of the virus. But in a palace statement on Tuesday, the monarch said he was considering public safety and the country’s best interest in giving his consent after meeting with Muhyiddin on Monday afternoon.
The king said he was concerned as the pandemic has risen to a critical level and at the same time some parts of the country are struggling with floods that have displaced thousands of people.
Malaysian virus cases have risen from just over 15,000 three months ago to 138,224, including 555 dead, in a new outbreak triggered by local elections.
Muhyiddin, in announcing Monday’s closure, warned that the country’s health system was at a “breaking point.” He said daily cases of coronavirus, which have consistently breached 2,000 in recent weeks, could reach 8,000 by the end of May if nothing is done. The health ministry also said it has identified the first case of a highly contagious British variant in the country.
Separately, Interior Minister Hamzah Zainuddin became the third cabinet minister in days that tested positive for the virus, his office said on Tuesday.
Under Wednesday’s sidewalk renovation, social gatherings and interstate travel are banned and traffic is restricted to a 10-kilometer (6-mile) radius, similar to a March 2020 national closure. However, some sectors of manufacturing, trade and distribution, and plantations may operate under strict guidelines.
Muhyiddin assured investors that “Malaysia is open to business.”
“This emergency period will provide us with the much needed calm and stability, as well as allow us to focus on economic recovery and regeneration,” he said.
Muhyiddin took power in March after instigating the collapse of the reformist alliance that won the 2018 elections and joined the opposition to form a Malaysian-centered government. But his government is unstable with a narrow majority in Parliament.
Josef Benedict, a researcher in the rights group CIVICUS Monitor, said the emergency seemed like another offer from Muhyiddin to “hold power, block elections and remove parliamentary oversight” instead of seriously treating the pandemic.
“A dark day for democracy,” he tweeted.