[UPDATED] MCO unaffected by revocation of emergency ordinances: MoH

KUALA LUMPUR – The revocation of the emergency ordinances will not usurp the government’s role in enforcing movement restrictions in its bid to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Health Ministry explained that this is because the ordinances and the health order, the latter of which allows for the imposition of the movement control order, are both enacted under different provisions and therefore unrelated.

“Any cancellation of the ordinances made during the emergency will not affect the functioning of the existing Act 342 (Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease Act 1988) to prevent and control infectious diseases,” it said in a statement today.

As such, the ministry urged the people not to draw their own, inaccurate conclusions regarding the health order in question, to avoid misunderstanding and confusion.

This is in relation to the extension of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Declaration of Infected Local Areas) Order 2020, which was gazetted on July 21 and has now been extended from August 2 to December 31.

The order has been extended several times since coming into force in March last year, with the current one, which took effect on April 1, to end on August 1, the same date as the final day of the state of emergency.

Addressing the confusion, the Health Ministry said the health order was enacted under Section 11(1) of Act 342, which provides power to the health minister to declare any locality as an infected area.

This order, it noted, had declared all states and federal territories in the country as an area of infection.

“With the implementation of this order, the enforcement of law can be taken through orders provided by the respective officers,” it said.

“The emergency ordinances, meanwhile, were promulgated under Article 150 of the Federal Constitution, which allowed the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare an emergency in the country beginning January 11 to August 1.”

On Monday, law minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan had announced in the Dewan Rakyat that all emergency ordinances have been retroactively revoked effective July 21.

This had provoked an uproar among MPs, many of whom questioned if the move by the government had been referred to and consented by the Agong.

In a statement yesterday, the king had reprimanded Takiyuddin, saying the latter’s statement on the revocation had misled the Dewan Rakyat, and that it failed to respect the principle of the rule of law and disregarded His Majesty’s functions and powers as the head of state.

The Prime Minister’s Office responded saying the issue of revocation had already been presented to the king during an audience on Tuesday, and therefore needed not be debated. – The Vibes, July 30, 2021