Committee lobbying against ‘ill-advised’ emergency makes another request for royal audience

KUALA LUMPUR – The Committee to End Emergency has appealed for an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

The purpose of the audience would be to hand over a memorandum calling for an end to the nationwide emergency, to the king.

In a statement today, committee chairman Khalid Samad said the appeal is the group’s second after they had headed to Istana Negara to hand over a similar request on March 26, but which has received an official response so far.

“This is the second time we have applied to seek an audience with the king and we are confident that (the king) will consider our request accordingly.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the emergency declaration as advised by the prime minister of the PN-BN (Perikatan Nasional-Barisan Nasional) government to (the king) has brought adverse effects from various perspectives, especially in terms of the economy as well as current political stability,” he said.

The Shah Alam MP also claimed that foreign investors have withdrawn plans to invest in Malaysia due to increasing unemployment and skyrocketing prices of goods.

“We demand that the state of emergency is ended, and that Parliament be allowed to sit as usual,” he said. 

“The PN-BN government is seen as using the emergency as an indecent measure to hide behind acts that threaten the harmony as well as ethics of our nation’s constitution.”.

Khalid, who is also Amanah’s communications director, stressed that worryingly, the high rate of new Covid-19 cases shows no signs of easing even as the next wave is expected to hit soon.

“Based on the present (vaccine) dosage rate administered at the moment, it is impossible for Malaysia to be a pandemic-free country in the near future,” he said. 

“This in turn will endanger our people, let alone burden the frontline workers because of the PN-BN government’s inconsistencies, which does not follow neither data nor science and the people’s expectations.

He said the large size of the cabinet, which has come under criticism, is a clear indication that the nation’s coffers are strained amid “money politics” played by the government.

As such, the committee, he said, hopes that the king will consider ending the emergency ordinance as soon as possible to end the people’s suffering and resolve present problems.

The emergency ordinance was implemented on January 14 and is scheduled to last until August 1. – The Vibes, April 20, 2021