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KUALA LUMPUR – A cabinet minister launched a defense of the decision to seek emergency powers on Friday (Oct 23), asking what other legal provision would allow for delaying elections in Malaysia amid a resurgent wave of coronavirus infections.
In a post on Twitter sharing a local media report citing lawyers who say existing legislation is sufficient to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak, Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa claimed that most of the Malaysians do not want to go to the polls, having seen how last month’s polls in Sabah led to a record number of infections and deaths daily.
A by-election in Batu Sapi, Sabah, is scheduled for December 5, and state elections are due to take place in neighboring Sarawak state by the middle of next year.
“Please indicate what law to use when Bt Sapi voters want the government to postpone by election. What law to use when Sarawakian wants their PRN to be postponed for fear of what happened to Sabah. And what law to use when 87 % of voters indicated that they do not want GE for fear of the COVID-19 outbreak, “wrote the Umno legislator in his post on Friday night.
It is unclear where he got information from how many voters want to avoid a general election.
Tan Sri Annuar is the secretary general of the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, the largest bloc in Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government.
This is the first public statement by a minister on the need for an emergency since a special Cabinet meeting decided on the matter on Friday morning.
National elections won’t take place until 2023, but a political mess that was sparked when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim claimed he had a “formidable majority” late last month raised the specter of the 2021 Budget’s defeat in Parliament. .
Although Umno President Zahid Hamidi finally backed down from threats to leave the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, he could still lose a vote in Parliament if only three of his 113 MPs defect.
If the government does not approve the spending for next year, Tan Sri Muhyiddin would have to resign, possibly triggering snap elections, as no other MP appears to be able to obtain a parliamentary majority.
An emergency would allow Parliament and elections to be suspended, while laws and expenditures can be approved directly by the government.
After the cabinet decided on Friday morning to seek emergency powers, senior officials from the Muhyiddin administration met with the king in the evening. However, no official announcement has been made so far.
The Palace said on Saturday that Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah will consult with eight other state monarchs as soon as possible before making a decision, confirming The Straits Times report late Friday.
Sabah continues to fight the largest coronavirus outbreak in Malaysia so far. The state had 10,396 cases of Covid-19 as of October 23.
The campaign for the September 26 elections in Malaysia’s easternmost state has seen the disease spread across the country, with the total number of infections doubling this month alone. The country now has 24,514 Covid-19 cases and 214 deaths.
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