End political posturing over emergency, prominent thinker tells opposition leaders
Chandra Muzaffar says the announcement of a bipartisan committee to oversee the virus emergency deserves a more mature response.
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One of Malaysia’s most prominent social critics has urged the opposition to prove it is serious about joining the battle against Covid-19 by accepting an offer to join the bipartisan committee to oversee the Covid-19 state of emergency.
“The opposition should show greater maturity and sense of responsibility, and the public will appreciate this,” Chandra Muzaffar told MalaysiaNow.
This comes as several senior Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders step up talk of challenging the proclamation in court, with threats to boycott the bipartisan committee to be formed in the coming days.
Chandra said the announcement that the committee would include opposition MPs was unprecedented and a break from past emergencies the nation had seen.
“The Covid-19 emergency declared last week was very specific in its orientation, with a clear deadline and period of time compared to the previous emergencies,” he told MalaysiaNow, responding to criticism against the move to declare an emergency.
He added that in 2013, then-prime minister Najib Razak had rescinded all past emergency proclamations as they had remained quietly in force.
“I don’t think any government that comes after that would want to put in place an emergency as the main foundation of governance.”
Malaysia had gone through several major emergencies which saw sweeping powers for the police and armed forces, including in the aftermath of the 1960 racial riots, and during the Confrontation with Indonesia.
Chandra said this is no longer the case.
“This is an emergency that is linked to a health crisis, ultimately to an economic crisis, both of which have a devastating impact on the people.
“If the opposition cares for the people, they should participate and not throw bricks from outside.”
He said being part of the emergency committee would not compromise the opposition as the committee is answerable to the Agong, and not the prime minister.
“Take it for what it’s worth. If they feel it is not working, that’s a different matter, but they should give it a chance.
“Given the war-like situation and the role offered to the opposition in the committee, I think the opposition should have adopted a more responsible approach,” Chandra added.
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