KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition leaders have reiterated their calls for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to resign along with the rest of his cabinet following the palace’s open rebuke against the government on the revocation of emergency ordinances last week.
In a joint statement, the opposition leaders said they were “very shocked” when the Yang di-Pertuan Agong expressed deep regret after Law Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan and Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun had not followed the king’s advice to table and debate motions to revoke the ordinances.
“We were also very shocked to hear that His Majesty had stressed that Takiyuddin’s statement in Parliament on July 26 was misleading and had confused the members of the Dewan Rakyat,” they said in the statement.
The statement, which was released just before midnight, was signed by PKR chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
Other politicians who signed the statement were United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau, Muda’s Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Parti Bersatu Sarawak leader Baru Bian, and independent politician Maszlee Malik.
The opposition leaders said the entire cabinet is collectively responsible for the brewing constitutional crisis, as it had failed to table and debate all emergency ordinances on its own accord and not as decreed by the Agong, based on Article 43(3) of the federal constitution.
The leaders also expressed regret over the prime minister’s instruction to postpone the special parliamentary sitting scheduled for today, despite having only recorded a 0.9% Covid-19 infectivity rate as of Thursday.
“This postponement does not respect the federal constitution or the process of parliamentary democracy, and has ignored Istana Negara’s media statement.
“Therefore, we are of the opinion that Tan Sri Mahiaddin Md Yassin, and the entire cabinet, must resign respectfully now,” they said, referring to Muhyiddin’s official name. – The Vibes, August 2, 2021
