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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin arrived at Istana Abdul Aziz in Kuantan, the capital of the eastern Pahang state, on Friday (October 23) for an audience with the King, Malaysian media reported.
The meeting comes amid expectations that the prime minister is seeking the consent of the constitutional monarch to invoke emergency powers.
Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah is also the ruler of Pahang.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin chaired a special Cabinet meeting in Putrajaya on Friday morning to decide on emergency measures to ensure that the next budget session in Parliament does not result in snap elections if it is not passed.
Muhyiddin has a slim majority in parliament, and a failure to approve the budget would amount to a vote of no confidence in his government and could trigger an early vote. However, a general election, amid the new wave of coronavirus infections in Malaysia, could prove disastrous.
Sources with knowledge of these discussions told The Straits Times that an “economic emergency” could be proclaimed to ensure that government spending to curb Covid-19 – which has doubled total cases this month alone – is not compromised by an increasingly unstable political atmosphere.
“It will not be similar to the curfews and military presence that we had after the 1969 race riots.
“Instead, normal life under the Movement Control Order (MCO) will continue, without politics getting in the way of dealing with a health crisis,” a source said on condition of anonymity, as the issues are official government secrets.
A senior ministerial adviser told ST that the cabinet’s decision to invoke emergency powers was brought to the National Security Council meeting on Friday afternoon.
“The special Cabinet meeting was to ensure that we have a 2021 Budget that can be implemented. We have to await the Prime Minister’s audience with the King,” he said, declining to comment further on the agenda.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who recently claimed that he has enough support in Parliament to form a new government, criticized the plan, saying that the Muhyiddin administration was using the Covid-19 crisis as an excuse to justify its abuse. of power.
“The government has not provided strong leadership in handling this crisis and is instead turning to undemocratic means to stay in power,” Datuk Seri Anwar said in a statement on Friday.
The special Cabinet meeting on Friday morning was attended by the Chief of the Armed Forces, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General.
ST understands that they were consulted earlier in the week after health officials vehemently presented their case at high-level meetings to ensure that national elections are not held until the outbreak is contained.
Surveys in the state of Sabah last month, which were carried out even as new clusters of infections emerged there, were a key factor in Malaysia that recorded an unprecedented number of new cases this month.
The country has seen more than 800 daily new infections reported multiple times this week, far more than previous highs of just over 200.
Election Commission Chief Abdul Ghani Salleh also said on October 13 that “in light of the outbreak, we urge, if possible, that no elections be held during this period.”
The Federal Constitution allows an emergency to be called under article 150, with the consent of the King.
ST understands that several state rulers, nine monarchs who take turns as Malaysian king every five years, have been informed of the possibility of special powers being granted to the government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin.
Follow ST’s live coverage as PM Muhyiddin meets the King of Malaysia.
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