THERE is no need to impose emergency rule on the country to either fight the Covid-19 pandemic or to solve the political uncertainty as the country still has a functioning government, said a prominent lawyer and pundits.

They told The Malaysian Insight it is ridiculous to use the pandemic as a reason to declare state of emergency as there are health legislations to deal with the problem.

If there are political issues, they said, then they should be brought to the Dewan Rakyat.

This, they said, is the democratic way to resolve any impasse that has been brewing on the political and health fronts, adding that both situations have not reached the critical stage which demand that the country be put under emergency rule.

They were reacting to news that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government plans to introduce some kind of emergency amid the Covid-19 pandemic and political instability.

Muhyiddin had a two-hour meeting with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in Kuantan, Pahang yesterday, hours after he chaired a special cabinet meeting in Putrajaya earlier in the morning.

International Islamic University lecturer Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said the current situation is not a strong enough reason to declare an emergency.

“On one hand, it is not that the situation is not under control. We still have a government,” Tunku Mohar said.

He said, for example, if the government headed by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin no longer commands the majority of the Dewan Rakyat, then someone who has the majority should be able to lead the new government

“I think if that cannot be achieved and there are issues resulting from this, then there is justification to have an emergency.

“I think having an emergency is not a good option because it will suspend democracy in the country.”

Tunku Mohar said the political impasse should be decided by MPs in Dewan Rakyat instead of the Agong.

“It should go through the test of support in Parliament. They should go ahead with the vote of no confidence.

“It looks like we are back to feudal days asking the Agong to decide on our behalf, when the people can do it through our democratic institutions.

“It is better to bring it back to Parliament to decide instead of calling for a state of emergency. The institution was built for this purpose.”

Tunku Mohar also agreed with veteran politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s leter to the Dewan Rakyat speaker.

“I think this should be given priority in the next parliamentary seating because we want to know who has the majority.

“I agree with Ku Li’s (Tengku Razaleigh) letter. The speaker (Azhar Azizan Harun) as a legislative leader should show some form of independence that befits his role.”

In a letter to the speaker last month, Tengku Razaleigh urged the speaker to allow the motion of no-confidence to be tabled to determine whether Muhyiddin has the support of the majority of its MPs.

“No-confidence motions should be given urgent attention in Dewan Rakyat so that Muhyiddin’s leadership receives the proper confirmation from Parliament,” he had said in the letter.

Emergency not a good move

Prominent lawyer Andrew Khoo said it is not a good move to declare an emergency if there is a political crisis because the very act of doing that supports the status quo.

“Doing that in itself is already an act that is potentially lacking in impartiality, which favours the government of the day.

“If you declare an emergency, it still gives the government of the day the right to control the governance of the country, because it’s currently in power,” he said.

He also questioned when did a political crisis become a crisis of national security.

“This is also dangerous because it’s overreaching.

“They are stretching the idea of national security issues to cover what are essentially political issues,” Khoo said, adding that the government should allow the motion of no-confidence to be prioritised at the next parliamentary sitting.

“There is a way to resolve this, which is to have a vote of confidence or no confidence in Parliament, which should have been done in March.

“All these months of political uncertainty could have been avoided if Muhyiddin, upon being appointed as prime minister, sought a motion of confidence.

“This political mess is the government’s own making, which is not justifiable,” he said.

He added that if there is a health emergency, there are existing laws that can be used.

“There are ways to impose tighter movement controls, which can be done without declaring emergency,” Khoo said.

Emergency will undermine government’s legitimacy

Political scientist Wong Chin Huat said an emergency is a recipe for disaster as it will send shock waves through the economy, cause markets to collapse and drive society into panic.

“It will also undermine the government’s legitimacy, building up resentment, which may explode into mass demonstration as we see in Thailand and Nigeria now.

“For whatever their partisan or cultist agenda, anyone who urges the Agong to proclaim emergency is endangering the constitutional monarchy by pushing the palace to the middle of political contestation, depriving it the impartiality to stay above the fray,” Wong said.

He said all the government needs to do now is reach a confidence and supply agreement (CSA) with the opposition.

“Under a CSA, the opposition will not vote down the budget or move a no-confidence vote.

“In return, the government must give the opposition in exchange constructive roles in policy formation and protection from funding discrimination and selective prosecution.

“This would both provide stability and advance democracy. A CSA with over 40 MPs is more than enough to overcome that,” he said.

He added that a PN and Pakatan Harapan CSA will not have the perils of a unity government or a bloated cabinet through a reshuffle.

“With a healthy competitive-cooperation between the government and the opposition, Parliament will become the real seat of policy-making with check and balance, possibly for a full term until 2023,” Wong added. – October 24, 2020.