Malaysia declares Covid state of emergency until August 1, amid political challenges
- by Lorene Schwartz
- in People
- — Jan 13, 2021
This morning, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah declared a state of emergency till Aug 1 to curb the spread of Covid-19. Malaysia kept the virus in check for much of past year with a tough lockdown but, once curbs were eased, cases accelerated and have repeatedly hit fresh records in recent days.
He had issued a two-week lockdown for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, and five surrounding states Monday as the number of total COVID-19 cases has grown over 138,000, including 555 deaths, with the number of daily new cases rising to well over 2,000 in recent weeks. It suspends Malaysia's parliament and political activity and grants the state new powers.
The healthcare system for the country of 32 million people was at a breaking point, the premier said.
Also, during this period, Muhyiddin said Federal executive powers will cover all matters concerning state legislative powers, except for Islamic laws and Malay customs, native laws and customs in Sabah and Sarawak, religion, citizenship as well as language, as prescribed under Clause 6A Article 150 of the Federal Constitution.
Muhyiddin first tried persuade the king to declare an emergency in October but was rebuffed. The health ministry also said it has identified the first case of a highly contagious United Kingdom variant in the country.
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This is not the first time a business will be going down for talking against the government methodologies. The maximum sentence for fraudulent securities issuance was raised from five to 15 years, Xinhua said .
The council also suggested that there was no reason to call an Emergency so as to avoid an election.
Separately, Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin became the third Cabinet minister in days to test positive for the virus, his office said Tuesday.
The prime minister, who is just 10 months into his term, insisted in a televised address that the emergency declaration was "not a military coup" and a curfew would "not be enforced", adding that he was committed to holding a general election once the country's outbreak was brought under control.
Muhyiddin assured investors that the period of emergency will provide "much needed calm and stability, as well as enable us to focus on economic recovery and regeneration".
