PERIKATAN Nasional’s state of emergency has caused a crisis of confidence that has done little to lift the economy, economists have said.

“Although the government has not given any data, (evidence from) previous emergency orders show that investor and consumer confidence drops during a state of emergency,” said renowned economist Prof Jomo Kwame Sundaram during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Referring to the first emergency, which was declared during British rule in 1948, Jomo said British investors stopped all investments into Malaya.

The current emergency, which began on January 11, has not helped improve the economy as seen by high unemployment, said Jomo.

He said that local and foreign investors were deterred by countries that have emergencies, because there would be no checks and balances.

Malaysia’s unemployment rate jumped 48.8% year-on-year when it registered 5% or 778,000 people out of work in April 2020, after the PN government instituted the first movement control order (MCO) in March last year.

Meanwhile, Economist Prof Nungsari Ahmad Radhi said unemployment is three times higher among people under 24.

“If we add on the under-employed people, the rate is as high as 20%,” said Nungsari.

Former Pakatan Harapan economic adviser, Muhammed Abdul Khalid, said that PN has not used the emergency well.

“It is a lot of missed opportunities. Governments usually use bad times reform, but nothing has been done on the social safety net or income tax reforms,” said Muhammed.

He said the pro-Perikatan supporters were also wrong to compare Malaysia’s state of emergency with previous, or those of other countries.

“While it is true that more than 70 countries have had emergencies too, none of them have suspended Parliament. The checks and balances on the government are still there in other countries,” said Muhammed.

In the context of the 1969 emergency, Muhammed said the National Operations Council led by former prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein was more efficient, inclusive and smaller.

“The NOC only had five to six politicians, led by Razak, and the rest were civil service. However, the NOC was more inclusive and consultative, and what came out was the New Economic Policy and the Rukun Negara.

“Yet, PN’s emergency cabinet contains 70 ministers but has fewer achievements.”

The three economists were speaking on the effects of the emergency on Malaysia’s economy. The press conference was organised by Pakatan Harapan’s Jawatankuasa Tamatkan Darurat chairman Khalid Samad.

PH and civil society have repeatedly accused Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin of calling a state of emergency to shore up his weak support and to stop Parliament from meeting in the meantime.

Although Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah said that Parliament can convene despite the emergency, the government has shown no indication that it will abide by this.

Under the emergency, the government has increased the fines for breaking Covid-19 SOPs, allowed the government to take over any private healthcare facilities and given itself the authority to use government monies without Parliament scrutiny. – April 19, 2021.