THE illegitimate backdoor government has eased the movement control order beginning today. The majority of businesses are able to resume operations, citizens can exercise and play sports with  some restrictions and four people in the same family may now travel in the same car.

This decision to ease the MCO has been criticised by many. An online petition opposing the move has so far garnered over 300,000 signature.

There are still Covid-19 infection cases and deaths occurring in the country daily. If cases continue to rise and spread due to the too-soon easing of the MCO, all the hard work of the medical personnel risk going down the drain and Malaysia will need to go into another round of extended and enhanced movement control order. This is what has happened in some countries.

While the backdoor Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin had made the announcement on easing the MCO, many states including Penang, Selangor, Sabah and Sarawak have refused to comply with the new directives.

While the move by these states is very much welcome to ensure public health is given importance over businesses, the question that arises now is over the legality of the states’ actions.

If business operators decide to start operating beginning today, would the state be able to stop them? If eateries decide to allow dine in and open till 10pm, does the state have power to enforce the old law despite Putrajaya’s new policy?

As for eateries, permits are issued by the local council. The local government has power to shut them down and or control their operation and issue summonses to them. However, taking into consideration federal policy on the matter, there arises a situation where enforcement action by the local authorities could be challenged.

On the other hand, many big industries such as trade, commerce and manufacturing come under the purview of the federal government. The states have no power to stop these businesses from operating. If it does stop them, I believe this could be challenged in court.

What about people going out to exercise? While public parks are under the state government which has power to close them to the public, the state has no power to stop people from exercising elsewhere in residential and community parks or from jogging on the road.

Under the new policy, four people are allowed to travel in the same car as opposed to two people under the old MCO. The state has no power to stop people from doing this as the police report to federal powers. 

It seems now that we are in a chaotic situation and the federal government has failed to listen to the various states. This is not a surprise as the government now is an unelected government that came into power through the backdoor. This very government is also refusing to convene parliament for a sufficient period to discuss the various concerns and issues arising over this pandemic, and it also spends billions of ringgit without parliamentary approval.

This is a threat to parliamentary sovereignty and our democratic country. Just three months into power, we are witnessing very worrying signs on the leadership of this government.

At the time of writing, the new policy announced by the government is yet to be seen effected into law. This means that the law which was gazetted remains in force until May 12.

This creates a very uncertain situation and may also give rise to enforcement authorities abusing their powers. People are confused now on the law and some irresponsible officers may misuse their powers to take advantage of this situation i.e bribery and selective prosecution.

Perhaps its time to start discussing devolution of powers to the individual states. Is it time to push for decentralisation? Too much power is given to the federal authorities. For example, the federal government gets to decide what routes public transport should operate in the various states. This does not make sense! 

Police and other major law enforcement authorities report to federal powers. Is it time for states to have their own police, JPJ and Custom authorities? I believe the performance of these agencies could be improved and many issues resolved if they come under the purview of the states.

Would it be good for the local communities to elect their own judges so that these judges would relate better to community sentiments and realities? These are just some of the questions on decentralisation that Malaysians should start discussing. 

For too long now, federal policies have held back the states from progressing with the times. For example, issues of race and religion continue to hamper progress. With the PN government in power now, one can only expect matters to get worse and out of control soon.

Whatever the message, the one thing that is clear with regard to the current federal leadership is that it has failed terribly and is showing signs of authoritarian rule. It is in a deep crisis. This is not only due to its handling of pandemic-related issues such as bank interest, its silence on police power abuse in enforcing the MCO, its arrest of undocumented migrant workers after it has promised them safety, but other issues including the appointments of GLC heads, its refusal to hold meaningful parliament sittings, the demonisation of Rohinga refugees and many more.

The future seems dark for Malaysians and I hope we will be able to resolve this as soon as possible. – May 4, 2020.

* Sudhagaran Stanley is a good governance activist.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.