ALL emergency laws enacted during this period should only be used to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, said Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. 

The Umno president said this was in line with the rationale given by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin while announcing the emergency today. 

“All powers given under the Emergency Ordinance should be confined to containing the virus,” said Zahid in a statement today. 

However, he said Putrajaya must restore the functions of Parliament once the emergency order has achieved its goals. 

“Umno hopes the government will respect the principle of human rights, civil freedom and rule of law during the emergency,” said the Bagan Datok MP.

Muhyiddin announced that Malaysia will be placed under a state of emergency today, to give the government more power to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The emergency proclamation is on top of the movement-control order announced by Muhyiddin yesterday.

The various MCOs will begin at 12.01am on January 13 and end on January 26 while the Emergency Order will be until August 1, unless an independent committee decides otherwise. 

The government, however, has not announced the persons involved in the independent committee. – January 12, 2021.