FOR sure, Covid-19 and preventing or restricting its spread is not cause for imposing the emergency. The movement control orders of the past and the targeted enhanced movement control orders did wonders to bring down the rate of spread of the infection.
For sure, even if there is a vote of confidence against Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's backdoor government, there is no reason to impose an emergency - it means the democratic process is working. It would simply mean Muhyiddin submits his resignation.
For sure, then the King decides whether to appoint a new PM who enjoys the confidence of the house or to have fresh elections. With the speaker putting all motions of no confidence on the back-burner, that won’t happen.
For sure, even if the forthcoming budget to be tabled on November 6 is not passed, it again means democracy is working as it is meant to be. It merely indicates that Muhyiddin does not enjoy the confidence of the house and should resign.
For sure, the King, in his wisdom and after he marshals all the facts, decides whether to appoint a new PM who enjoys the confidence of the house or to call for fresh elections.
For sure, the calling of fresh elections does not in itself lead to a situation which calls for the declaration of an emergency. There are sixty days before elections, which is a long enough time for the Health Ministry to impose measures that would result in elections which are safe.
For sure, you can have social distancing, or perhaps even Internet or electronic polls. If we can make millions of money transactions a day on the Internet safely surely a failsafe method for Internet polls can be implemented.
For sure, we can bar physical rallies - there is the Internet, Facebook, live streaming, YouTube, et cetera for campaigning which can be continuous but socially distanced. This may even reduce the potential for vote-buying. Covid-19 can be kept at bay even if there are elections.
For sure, the King ultimately decides on the proclamation of an emergency even though he may be advised by the PM, but he has an obligation to exercise that rationally. The two sections giving him the powers under the Constitution are:
150. (1) If the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security, or the economic life, or public order in the Federation or any part thereof is threatened, he may issue a Proclamation of Emergency making therein a declaration to that effect.
(2) A Proclamation of Emergency under Clause (1) may be issued before the actual occurrence of the event which threatens the security, or the economic life, or public order in the Federation or any part thereof if the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is satisfied that there is imminent danger of the occurrence of such event.
For sure, despite the clauses above, it will be highly irresponsible if the PM advises the King to declare emergency as a means to continue to stay in power to prevent the legitimate transition to power if and when he has lost the confidence of the majority in Parliament.
For sure, if an emergency is declared, we will gain recognition of the wrong kind - the first country in the world to declare an emergency because, ostensibly, it could not deal with the Covid-19 threat without it. That would be a patent lie because the Health Ministry was a doing fine job, except for that anomaly in the Sabah election due to political reasons.
For sure, the uncertainty that an emergency will cause will result in the evaporation of investor confidence, both locally and internationally, and a huge drop in confidence of the populace in the current government and the country. That will be disastrous.
Right now there seems to be only one reason to impose an emergency - to keep the backdoor government in power. That’s absolutely the wrong reason for imposing emergency.
The last thing we need right now is an emergency, especially one that is created by the political masters.
P Gunasegaram says that backdoor governments are bad - and dangerous. He is an editorial consultant for The Vibes.
