Chong Chieng Jen
KUCHING (July 30): Parliament should determine whether or not to lift or extend the Emergency, said Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chief Chong Chieng Jen.
He said this is because Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah had decided for the government to return to Parliament to arrive at a decision on the matter, which should not be up to the Cabinet.
“In fact, the King has decided. His decision is for the government to return to Parliament for the determination of whether to extend or revoke the Emergency Ordinances (EO).
“What the de facto law minister (Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan) and the Cabinet did is a blatant disregard for the decree of the King to have the question whether the EO ought to be extended or otherwise posed and voted in the Dewan Rakyat,” he said when contacted by The Borneo Post.
The national state of Emergency, which was imposed early this year, is scheduled to end on Sunday.
Chong, who is Stampin MP and currently in Kuala Lumpur, expects to attend the Parliament sitting on Monday.
He said the King’s decree is in line with the basic principle of Parliamentary democracy and regretted that the Cabinet had gone against this.
The DAP lawmaker opined the Cabinet had not only gone against the King but also infringed the Federal Constitution and the fundamental principle of Parliamentary democracy.
“The whole purpose of the King making the decree is that the government has failed the people in its handing of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“That alone, the Cabinet must resign and allow the King to appoint a new prime minister to take over the job of fighting the pandemic,” Chong claimed.
In a statement yesterday, Sultan Abdullah said he was “deeply saddened” by Takiyuddin’s assertion in Parliament that the EO had been revoked.
The King added that the minister’s remarks had confused Parliament, and that the announcement was “not accurate”.
His statement was met with calls for Takiyuddin’s resignation as well as for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to step down as prime minister.