LAWMAKERS should reject any proposal for emergency declarations by Putrajaya, said Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“(An) emergency declaration is not a choice and the king and the Conference of Rulers have already rejected it,” said the Bagan Datoh MP during his Budget 2021 speech in the Dewan Rakyat today.

“All MPs must reject any suggestion for emergency declaration although people can accept limited emergency declarations such as the one made for Batu Sapi yesterday,” said the Umno president today.

Two weeks before Parliament, the Perikatan Nasional cabinet sought a nationwide state of emergency to defer the current sitting and attempt to pass Budget 2021 without a vote. 

In the speech aimed at PN and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Zahid said the political mandate should be returned to Malaysians.

“Ideally, the people’s mandate is the most important and has to be returned to them. 

“The voice of the people is paramount. We gain power from the people and it is from the people we must return to for a mandate.”

He also took a jibe at Muhyiddin and PN, noting that their political partnership is “not that honest” and the possibility of Barisan Nasional not supporting Budget 2021 arises from this.

“There must be honesty in politics whether as a political partner or for mutual support, whether by standards or understanding, written or by convention, said or unsaid.

“This honesty should not only be based on what is agreed orally but by its implementation.

“There should not be any question about who owes who or who has done another a favour but how this understanding is interpreted,” said the former deputy prime minister.

Although, Zahid did not cite any example, his unhappiness with Muhyiddin is believed to have begun with the Sabah elections where PN pipped BN to the state’s leadership after winning seats against its political partner.

According to Ilham Centre, BN lost eight seats to PN allies and sponsored independents during the September elections.

Zahid’s views are shared by party deputy president Mohamad Hasan, who said Umno lost out to independents sponsored by “certain parties”.

Zahid today also called on the government to prioritise a confidence motion against Muhyiddin. – November 19, 2020.