KUALA LUMPUR – While foreign entities ought not to interfere in Malaysia’s affairs, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the call by 90 current and former Asean lawmakers for the country’s Parliament to reconvene is a cause for concern.
The Umno president, in a Facebook post today, said the government must not take the matter lightly, especially considering that Malaysia is a signatory to the Asean charter, which requires member states to observe the principles of democracy.
“As a sovereign state, it is not proper for any other quarters to interfere in our internal matters. Barisan Nasional has been consistent in rejecting foreign interference in the country’s administrative and political affairs.
“We are worried that this issue will not only affect the country’s bilateral ties with fellow Asean members, but also impact our economy.
“This is despite Malaysia being the one proposing an Asean economic recovery plan during the Asean special summit on Covid-19 last April.”
In a joint statement yesterday, 90 current and former elected representatives from the various Asean countries urged the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and prime minister to allow Parliament to sit as soon as possible.
The signatories, who are from Thailand, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Singapore, said this is to keep the government accountable, protect human rights, and allow Parliament to review the emergency measures currently in place.
Zahid said he hopes Asean lawmakers do not focus solely on the issue of democracy in Malaysia, but also address other matters concerning the region.
“There is also another Asean country that is currently tangled in the issue of democracy, after a military coup happened there,” he said, referring to the Myanmar junta’s power seizure and arrest of democratically elected leaders this month.
On January 12, Istana Negara announced that Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has consented to a nationwide emergency sought by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and that it will be in place until August 1 or earlier if the Covid-19 threat is contained.
On January 26, opposition leader and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim filed a suit against the prime minister and government over the emergency proclamation.
He is seeking a court declaration that Muhyiddin gave unlawful advice to the king to suspend Parliament while the country is under emergency rule.
Anwar has stressed that Malaysia is among the worst-hit Southeast Asian nations in terms of the outflow of foreign investments last year.
Such investments plummeted 68%, or US$2.6 billion (RM10.5 billion), while unemployment exceeded 700,000 by last month.
Earlier today, PKR communications director and Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil said Muhyiddin’s statement yesterday that the government has yet to invoke its powers under the emergency ordinance due to good cooperation from the private sector proves that there is no longer a need for the emergency order to be in place. – The Vibes, February 17, 2021
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