AS the nation’s Covid-19 cases and deaths surged to shockingly high levels with four-digit cases being recoded daily – reaching a peak of more than 3,000 cases – Malaysians were wondering when will stricter rules will be imposed and announced by the Government to mitigate/contain this health crisis.

The announcement by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on January 11 for six states suffering the most from this pandemic – including Penang, Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan), Malacca, Johor and Sabah – to be under a second movement control order (MCO 2.0) was a much-awaited and most welcome response for many Malaysians.

We realise its in our best interests to stay home and limit our movements as part of the important plan to mitigate this pandemic, in addition to following other SOP guidelines.

However, the following day on January 12, a Declaration of a Nationwide State of Emergency by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah for Malaysia to begin from January 13 till August 1 took most of us by surprise.

Many started to worry what this may entail, including would strict curfews be imposed to further limit our movements and other daily activities?

Apart from the concern and worry of the ordinary Malaysian public and professionals, we started to observe many views from politicians filling up the media space, sharing their thoughts, fears and concerns.

Internationally, the escalation of Covid 19 cases and deaths to unprecedented levels have resulted in several countries – including Spain, France, Portugal and Japan - declaring a State of Emergency for the entire nation or selected regions.

Aljazeera reported on March 13, 2020, that Spain – which has second highest level of Covid cases in Europe after Italy – joined other countries in declaring an emergency.

The Spanish experience

In March, when Spain’s Covid-19 cases soared, the government imposed lockdown as part of a two-week state of emergency.

CNBC reported that a state of emergency allows the central government to legally confiscate goods and take over control of industries and private facilities including private hospitals to boost the public system.

CNBC further reported that it is only the second time that the government had evoked it since the return of democracy in the late 1970s.

The other was declared during the 2010 air traffic controllers’ strike.

As Spain grappled with a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in October 2020 and was registering one of the highest number of infections in Europe, Reuters announced that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had declared a new state of emergency on October 25, in an effort to curb soaring coronavirus infections, imposing local night-time curfews and banning travel between regions in some cases.

This arises from Spain being the first country in the European Union and the sixth in the world to surpass 1 million cases.

As of October 26, Spain had recorded 35,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Euronews dovetailed that regions in Spain ran the risks of having their strict measures annulled by the courts because they infringe on freedoms, such as is the case of the Basque region.

The state of emergency was therefore required to provide the legal framework to remove the anti-Covid measures taken by regional governments from the control of the courts.

Euronews reported that Sanchez’s office said that the proposal for the state of emergency had been welcomed by a majority of Spain’s regional governments “ which have requested it”.

Administrations in at least nine regions had asked central government in Madrid to declare a state of emergency or voiced their support for the move.

The government had tried unsuccessfully to convince the main right wing opposition party, the Popular Party (PP) to support this measure but it failed and this was contested in the courts.

As the courts had sided with the Madrid Government, the prime minister declared Spain’s second state of emergency initially for a period of 15 days. Now it has been supported to extend till May 2021.

Euronews highlighted that this will be the second Covid-19 state of emergency declared in 2020 in Spain after the first lasted from March till June.

It is the fourth time a state of emergency has been declared since Spain’s transition to democracy in the 1970s.

The French experience

At the height of the Covid 19 pandemic, France declared a state of emergency in March 2020, giving officials greater powers to impose new measures to contain the spread, including introducing nightly curfews from 9pm to 6am for Paris and several selected regions

Reuters reported the French government announcing “the Covid-19 epidemic constitutes a public health disaster which, by its character and its severity, puts at risk the health of the population… it justifies the declaration of a state of emergency so that measures can be adopted… which are strictly proportionate to the public health risks.”

The emergency was lifted in July when the number of cases subsided. 

When France was confronted by a second wave Anadolu Agency reported the state of health emergency, declared from March 2020 to July 10, was reinstated on October 17 with a decree issued by the government, then extended till February 2021.

LBC reported that the move was criticised by national secretary of the French Communist Party Fabien Roussel, who said the decision could not be “done on the sly”.

Hence, it is evident that although a number of countries and governments continue to declare a state of emergency as a strategic game plan, they face opposition in this matter.

As citizens, we look forward to the co-operation of all parties to please accord priority to the safety, health, lives and livelihoods of its citizens as well as animals (pets and strays), and to the nation’s economic growth and prosperity to offer a safe and secure future for its citizens and future generations. – January 17, 2021.

* Sheriffah Noor Khamseah reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.