OFFICIAL records would remember that the recent emergency rule was mainly instituted to combat the pandemic that has ravaged the country for almost a year, but that only omits the hidden political context.

If all issues are political issues, then the necessity of an emergency rule should also be put under scrutiny for its political purpose.

Firstly, what is most puzzling is how the announcement of the movement-control order (MCO) 2.0 on the six embattled states was merely an opening act to the emergency rule, in less than 24 hours.

Although the numbers of daily infection are indeed worrying right now, most Malaysian would have thought the latest MCOs would have been sufficient and the only tool the state should employ, given the results the MCO 1.0 yielded last year.

The news of the declaration of the emergency on Tuesday morning surely came as a surprise to everybody when most are still grappling with the prior announcement of MCO.

To what extent the emergency rule, which grants absolute power to the executive without any check and balance, is necessary to flatten the curve – and this is what ultimately the “success” of an emergency rule should be measured against.

There is also a disturbing pattern on the first few days of MCO-cum-emergency rule: vehicles are audible and constantly moving around and most shops are still being frequented albeit under strict conditions. The difference is all there to see as compared to the March-May MCO in 2020 when cities were emptied out while most economic activities have been suspended.

This begs the question why an emergency is required when the MCO we are currently experiencing is less stringent than the previous one where government’s power was not even absolute. The fact that this MCO needed the extra layer of emergency to “combat Covid-19” is highly questionable.

What emergency added to this latest MCO 2.0 is the removal of “politics” in the name of fighting the pandemic.

With the suspension of Parliament and elections until at least August 1, there are no incentives for Anwar to shout about his majority given that there is no Parliament to formalise his claim on the prime minister pose and since the constitution is suspended under the emergency, the prime minister does not need a majority to survive politically.

Similarly, Ahmad Maslan and Umno’s threat for a snap election is also vanquished by an emergency rule and this is perhaps the strongest reason for an emergency decree this year.

Although the prime minister has the gift of dissolving the Parliament and deciding when the next general election should be held, it should be noted that he is also circumscribed by external factors.

Aside from the severity of Covid-19 preventing the elections, Muhyiddin also needs to take account of his own and Bersatu’s electoral chances in the election. The Merdeka Centre survey has made it clear that should an electoral pact not be agreed between Umno and Bersatu, the incoming general election will be a repeat of 2018.

Therefore, the emergency is enacted to act as the cooling saucer for the under-fire prime minister without a parliamentary majority, to grant him a much-needed breathing space until at least August 1.

The fact that a political crisis of such nature could be solved by emergency rule also speaks volumes about the country’s ailing political institutions as they are incapable of making necessary political adjustments or compel politicians to react in a certain way to adapt to a deep impasse, albeit aggravated by a pandemic.

In fact, our political system has the tendency to encourage political brinkmanship – a winner takes all system where no politician could stand not being in government for even one second after having tasted power.

Nevertheless, pinning the blame solely on the prime minister for the emergency rule is bordering on the disingenuous. Amidst these testing times, the opposition and dissenters within the government should have supported the government while offering proper scrutiny on its pandemic policies.

Yet, they have offered nothing constructive aside from wanting to bring down the government by hook or by crook. Muhyiddin’s confidence as prime minister should have been tested in Parliament but instead, we are treated to the unnecessary spectacle of the opposition leader declaring his majority in a hotel.

Efforts to assist and extend an olive branch to the government on pandemic policies have been wasted on horse-trading on parliamentary numbers or bickering about who should be the next prime minister.

Umno is also culpable for supporting the prime minister during the supply bill, but immediately instigated a political rebellion against him in less than a month.

Being pushed to such an extent, it is no wonder Muhyiddin would resort to emergency order to prolong his tenure but it was the recklessness of PH and Umno that has brought us to this dire state.

The political system in Malaysia is indeed broken, but the Machiavellian nature of politicians are also a part of the reason why we are under emergency rule.

As political activities cease under emergency rule, these might help politicians from both sides to prioritise the interests of their constituents by staying at home and offer the country a much-needed political peace and tranquillity.

This perhaps is the only reason we can cheer about under such emergency times. – January 17, 2021.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.