The Malaysian Insight

MUHYIDDIN Yassin should resign if the government’s emergency ordinance is defeated in Parliament later this month, Pejuang deputy president Marzuki Yahya said.

He told The Malaysian Insight that not only Malaysians feel that the government has failed but international critics have also labelled Malaysia as a failed state.

“For me, he should resign (over that),” he said.

Marzuki said the Parliament meeting scheduled to begin on July 26 also offers an opportunity for Muhyiddin to step down.

Muhyiddin should do so if the lawmakers reject the emergency ordinance, said the senator.

Marzuki was giving his first interview as the new Pejuang deputy president after the Registrar of Societies (RoS) approved the party’s application last week.

The former deputy foreign minister was commenting on Pejuang’s role in Malaysian politics and the upcoming Parliament meeting.

“Pejuang MPs have sent a motion for the setting up of a special recovery committee like the National Security Council (Mageran) of 1969,” he said.

“We want to solve problems. Our priority is not who is prime minister.”

He said Pejuang chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad has already said he does not want to be prime minister again, although the Mageran idea is from the 96-year-old Langkawi MP.

Marzuki said although the country needs a chief commander to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, Pejuang does not want to be part of the process of toppling Muhyiddin.

“We want to be independent. But we will see what happens when the emergency ordinance is tabled for a vote in Parliament,” he said.

On principle, Marzuki said, Pejuang is against the emergency ordinance as it is unnecessary.

“New Zealand had to obtain Parliament approval for its lockdown. But Malaysia has sufficient laws for a lockdown. There should not have been an emergency,” he said.

“The emergency ordinance is only used to bypass Parliament as the government is afraid of losing a no-confidence vote.”

He said the emergency ordinance has done little for the Covid-19 pandemic as cases are higher than before the state of emergency began in January.

Muhyiddin is widely believed to have lost the support of the majority of MPs after Umno announced last week that it has withdrawn its support for him to be prime minister.

Although it was reported that 25 of 35 Umno MPs still support Muhyiddin, the loss of 10 is enough for him to lose the majority.

On paper, Muhyiddin is estimated to have the support of 115 MPs from Bersatu (31), Barisan Nasional (42), PAS (18), GPS (18), STAR (one), PBS (one) and four independents while the opposition has 105 seats. Two seats are vacant.

Muhyiddin’s first test in Parliament, if it convenes, will be the voting for the emergency ordinance.

He has declared emergency from January 11 to August 1 to fight the pandemic, but the infections have been growing steadily with the country reporting a record high of 13,215 new cases yesterday. – July 16, 2021.