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He did not want to comment on the matter earlier simply because all legal and constitutional experts, politicians, activists, NGOs and many more were giving their considered opinions on the government’s request that His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong agree. to a national declaration of emergency.
Now that the King has announced his decision, I would like to affirm that for me, personally, as a former government servant and having served in all of our previous emergencies since our nation’s independence, it appears that the government’s move was purely a political expedient. .
Every emergency (communist terrorism, Indonesian confrontation and race riots on May 13) declared in the past was due to our national security being threatened.
Our National Security Council (MKN) is operational and meets daily to assess the situation of Covid-19 in the country and advises the government on the steps to take in collaboration with the ministries of health and others to mitigate the spike in new cases.
The MKN has the power to order closures, impose curfews, among others, in the most affected areas with the concurrence of the government. Therefore, an emergency order was totally unnecessary.
I salute the King and his fellow rulers for disagreeing with the national emergency proposal that clearly demonstrates that our constitution and democracy prevail over political intrigues.
I sincerely hope that all political parties on both sides of the division heed His Majesty’s advice.
K Thanabalasingam is a retired Rear Admiral and was the first Malaysian to be appointed head of the Royal Malaysian Navy.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
