Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday his cabinet would discuss holding a debate in parliament to repeal emergency virus laws, amid opposition calls to resign over allegations that he disrespected the Southeast Asian country’s king.
Muhyiddin has been under pressure from opposition parties to debate the move in parliament after his government initially revoked emergency laws, designed to curb coronavirus, without seeking prior consent from the palace.
“This proposal will be discussed in the cabinet meeting tomorrow, with the hope of resolving the polemics related to the repeal of the emergency ordinances in a harmonious and constitutional manner,” Muhyiddin said in a statement.
A debate in parliament on revoking the measures, which the government had previously said would not be necessary, could ease some of the pressure on Muhyiddin, who has governed with a razor-thin majority and led an unstable ruling coalition since coming to power in March 2020.
King Al-Sultan Abdullah, who imposed the emergency ordinances on the advice of Muhyiddin, issued a rare rebuke of the move, which he said ran counter to Malaysia’s constitution, on July 29.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim filed a no-confidence motion against Muhyiddin following the King’s comments and on Monday, opposition lawmakers attempted to march on Malaysia’s parliament building to demand Muhyiddin’s resignation after he deferred a parliamentary sitting over COVID-19 concerns.
A special session of the House of Representatives at the Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia convenes on Monday for the first time since January after being suspended under a coronavirus emergency. The state of emergency will not go beyond August 1, a minister said Monday. Photo: AFP
