MUHYIDDIN Yassin and his cabinet members must resign for deliberately lying to Parliament with regard to the revocation of emergency ordinances, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed said today. 

The Langkawi MP said Muhyiddin should have known he had no power to revoke the ordinances on his own. 

“But still the announcement was made as if he had the power when such power is solely in the hands of the king during an emergency,” he said in a statement. 

He added although the actual announcement was made by de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan, it did not absolve Muhyiddin from his responsibility as prime minister. 

“The statement from the Agong today showed that Muhyiddin had deliberately lied to Parliament with regards to the revocation of the emergency ordinances. 

“Although he did not announce the revocation on Monday, he cannot absolve himself from the responsibility. 

“He made no attempt to correct it when Takiyuddin made the announcement despite being seated right in front of him. Neither did Muhyiddin make any clarification the following days,” he said.

He said Muhyiddin was therefore responsible for the shameful act as also the rest of the cabinet members. 

“Therefore it is incumbent upon him to resign as prime minister and his cabinet members must follow suit.” 

On Monday, Takiyuddin announced that the emergency ordinances had been revoked by the government effective July 21. He said the decision was made in accordance with Article 150(3) of the federal constitution. 

His announcement raised consternation among MPs, with many questioning whether the decision had the king’s consent. Takiyuddin deflected questions, saying he would answer them on Monday, August 2. 

A statement by the palace today, however, confirmed the king was not consulted on the revocation of the ordinances. 

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah said he was disappointed with the government’s announcement it had withdrawn emergency ordinances on July 21 without any debate in Parliament. 

He said he was not informed of the government’s intention to do so. 

The king also said the government’s actions were disrespectful of the principles of rules of law, and paid no heed to the constitutional powers and functions of the Agong. – July 29, 2021.