POLITICIANS must not cause more political turmoil as the country is still suffering the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in his royal address to parliament today.

“Don’t drag the country into another political turmoil when Malaysians are still facing all sorts of problems and an uncertain future as a result of Covid-19.

“Due to this, my government has decided to have only one agenda in today’s sitting, which is the royal address and the official opening of parliament,” Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah told MPs and senators.

The royal address was televised live.

He urged politicians not to slander one another even if they held different opinions.

“Differences of opinion should be a platform to start new ideas and unite the country.

“Practise mature politics and take care of people’s concerns. Don’t raise sensitivities of race, religion and the Malay rulers,” said the king.

His address signalled the opening of the  third session of the 14th parliament. 

Today’s sitting, however, is a one-day affair to only hear the royal address after the removal last week of government matters on spending to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.

Sultan Abdullah touched on February’s political crisis, saying he accepted Dr Mahathir’s resignation on February 24 with sadness and had tried to persuade him against stepping down, to no avail.

“We met at around 5pm that day. In that meeting, I asked him not to resign but he persisted with his decision.

“As such, I had to appoint a new prime minister as stated in Article 43 of the federal constitution.”

The king said he next met the MPs on February 25-26 to find out whom they supported as prime minister.

“On February 29, I asked the party leaders to nominate who they supported as PM,” said the king.

At the end of the process, Sultan Abdullah said he found Muhyiddin Yassin had the majority support of the MPs. 

The king thanked MPs and the people for their maturity in allowing the process to take place.

Dr Mahathir resigned the prime minister’s office and the Bersatu chair on February 24 when his party members insisted on leaving Pakatan Harapan.

He has filed to challenge Muhyiddin’s legitimacy as the prime minister with a confidence motion, which was accepted by the Dewan Rakyat speaker but which would not be tabled today in Parliament due to the truncated agenda.

Despite being a member of a ruling party, Dr Mahathir was seated with the opposition today.

Parliament will reconvene for the next sitting in July. – May 18, 2020.