PRIME Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has to make a firm statement if the Special Independent Emergency Committee (SIEC) would be the only authoritative body to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on whether to extend the emergency on August 1, said Lim Kit Siang.

The Iskandar Puteri lawmaker said while de facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan has backtracked from his stand that it is the cabinet’s responsibility to advise the Agong whether or not the emergency should be extended, that alone is not good enough as long as Muhyiddin remains silent on the matter.

“I would advise the entire 19-member Special Independent Committee headed by Arifin Zakaria to ask for a meeting with the prime minister and secure an assurance from him that it is the SIEC and not the cabinet or designated minister who will advise the Agong on whether to extend the emergency on August 1,” said the veteran DAP MP.

Lim said Takiyuddin’s backtrack does not commit the cabinet in any way not to exercise its powers under Article 40 of the Malaysian constitution to advise the king on whether to extend the emergency on August 1 and where the ruler is constitutionally required to act on the cabinet’s advice.

“Takiyuddin only said that the government has never interfered in the 19-member SIEC’s one job – to advise the Agong on when the emergency should end – but what is the need for the government to interfere with the SIEC’s work when, from Takiyuddin’s standpoint, the SIEC is utterly irrelevant and immaterial as it is the advice of the cabinet or the designated minister, which the Agong should follow?” he said.

Lim said if Muhyiddin was not prepared to give the assurance that it is the SIEC’s advice, which will have the final say on the issue, the SIEC might as well be disbanded.

Yesterday, Takiyuddin said Putrajaya acknowledged the role of the special independent committee formed to advise the Agong on the emergency.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said he had been “taken out of context” when he said yesterday that the cabinet would advise the king on whether the emergency, due to end on August 1, should be extended.

“I reiterate the government’s commitment to follow the law when making decisions about the emergency, including acknowledging the mechanisms that are in place under the law,” Takiyuddin said in a statement.

“In other words, the government acknowledges the special independent committee established under section 2 of the Emergency Ordinance (Essential Powers) 2021.

“The government has never interfered in the special independent committee on the emergency and has instead given its cooperation so that this committee can fulfil its functions.”

His statement, however, did not explain why he said the cabinet would advise the king.

Takiyuddin said the cabinet would advise the king on whether the emergency would be extended in response to director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, who said only the king could decide on the extension.

The emergency was called in January to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The special independent committee, which includes opposition lawmakers, is to advise the king on the Covid-19 situation and whether the emergency should be continued to bring the pandemic under control.

Takyuddin’s reference to the cabinet as adviser to the Agong drew rebuke from Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Azalina Othman Said, who told him to “stop shifting the goalposts!” in a tweet.

He responded by saying that Putrajaya is not shifting the goalposts but “correcting the rules of the game to help the referee make the right call”.

DAP’s Lim also slammed Takiyuddin for denying that the cabinet was “shifting goalposts” as to when the emergency should come to an end.

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who is a member of the committee, earlier today said Takiyuddin has caused confusion and should explain the purpose of the committee.

“I would like to ask Takiyuddin to come forward and provide an explanation,” he said.

“This committee has a very clear and specific responsibility, which is to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the continued existence of an emergency or its termination.” – June 14, 2021.