Committee to meet Malaysia's King over emergency
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Nadirah H. Rodzi Malaysia Correspondent In Kuala Lumpur, Nadirah H. Rodzi
Malaysia's King has consented to an audience with an opposition committee which is appealing to end the emergency.
Committee for Ending the Emergency Declaration chairman Khalid Abdul Samad said the date for the meeting has yet to be fixed, but he was confident that it will be held "as soon as possible".
The meeting will be the first time that the opposition will have direct access to Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah since he declared a state of emergency in Malaysia on Jan 12.
Mr Khalid said in a statement on Thursday: "I am pleased to inform you that this morning, I received a letter from Istana Negara saying that His Majesty, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, has agreed to grant an audience to the Committee for Ending the Emergency Declaration, to submit a petition to appeal for an end to the emergency."
He added that the "adverse effects" of the emergency are becoming "more pronounced" with each passing day.
Sultan Abdullah declared the emergency after Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's administration advised that the emergency, which expires on Aug 1, will allow the government to focus on fighting the pandemic. But the opposition says the move was a ploy to keep the Perikatan Nasional government in power despite its dwindling support from lawmakers.
The government has controversially suspended all Parliament and state assembly sittings. Questions were raised when it announced this week that it would tap Malaysia's RM17 billion (S$5.5 billion) National Trust Fund, largely built on petroleum revenue, to pay for vaccinations and related expenditure without oversight from Parliament.
Sultan Abdullah can lift the emergency earlier based on the advice of a bipartisan special committee set up under the emergency proclamation.
Opposition lawmakers led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim have asked the King to end the emergency so that a Parliament sitting can be held to test Tan Sri Muhyiddin's political support, as well as discuss the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said the emergency has allowed the government to curb the virus' spread by amending laws to ensure better living conditions for foreign workers. "Without (the emergency), maybe all this could not have been done," he told reporters on Thursday.
