Muhyiddin Yassin during a live broadcast on January 12.
Photographer: Samsul Said / Bloomberg
Photographer: Samsul Said / Bloomberg
Explaining why Malaysia had to suspend democracy for the first time in half a century to fight the pandemic, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin assured the nation that he would not stage a military coup.
But it was difficult for his opponents to see the first national emergency since 1969 as anything more than a seizure of power. While the Southeast Asian nation has seen an increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, along with many other countries, pandemic measures have generally enjoyed broad support across the political spectrum.
“Don’t hide behind Covid-19 and load people with an emergency statement to save you,” Pakatan Harapan, the main opposition bloc in parliament, said in a statement after the announcement.
The only issue that was easily resolved urgently was Muhyiddin’s political issue: Some key leaders in the ruling coalition’s largest partner, the United Malaysian National Organization (UMNO), recently called for a new election as soon as possible. Now, with parliament potentially suspended until August, the prime minister does not have to worry about the upcoming elections.
While this move brings stability to Malaysia for the first time since last year’s political struggles tore down a coalition government and brought Muhyiddin to power, it also poses a risk to the country’s democracy. Before in the last election in 2018, the same ruling coalition ruled for about six decades – often with heavy tactics that tried to silence the media and opposition politicians.
Malaysia last experienced a national emergency in 1969, when racial riots between Malaysians and Chinese led to the suspension of parliament for two years. Now, the emergency situation is “totally useless”, as the criteria for imposing it have not been met and “no healthy parliamentarian” from either side would block the movements to end the pandemic, according to Oh Ei Sun, senior senior in Singapore Institute of International Relations.
“If you are not careful, we will move from parliamentary democracy to a rule through dictation,” he said. “It is addictive – future governments would invoke the state of emergency again.”
Investors were cautious after the announcement, the ringgit and the main index of shares in the country fell on Tuesday. A blockade announced on Monday prompted Fitch Solutions to reduce Malaysia’s 2021 economic growth forecast to 10% from 11.5% earlier, while warning that the restrictions could take months.
For 73-year-old Muhyiddin, a former UMNO leader who has bet on changing loyalties in his four-decade political career will be a welcome chance to consolidate power. Since becoming prime minister in March 2020, he has faced constant pressure from both his 12-party coalition and an opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim, who has repeatedly said he has the numbers to form a new party. government.
In October, the King of Malaysia rejected an effort to declare an emergency that would have allowed him to avoid a budget vote in parliament that doubled as a test of confidence. But he survived, and the recent rise in virus cases – reaching a record 3,309 on Tuesday – allowed him to persuade the king to grant emergency powers this time.
“This emergency period will give us the necessary calm and stability,” Muhyiddin said in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday. He added that the decree “is not a military coup and that the nesting state will not be implemented”.
“Checkmate”
After the emergency, a UMNO parliamentarian became second in the last days of the group, declaring that he was withdrawing support for Muhyiddin. The party as a whole has been more reserved, with President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi saying the prime minister should use his emergency powers only for measures containing the pandemic and restore parliamentary practices as soon as possible.
“Muhiyiddin Yassin is now safe,” Awang Azman told Awang Pawi University of Malaya. “When a state of emergency was declared, UMNO was smuggled because nothing significant could be done during a state of emergency.”
Photographer: Samsul Said / Bloomberg
Muhyiddin was vague about how he would use his new powers. On Tuesday, he warned of possible price controls, greater control over public hospitals and the role of the military and police in implementing public health measures. He also promised to hold elections once an independent committee said the pandemic was gone and that voters were sure to go to the polls.
Whether Muhyiddin’s Bersatu party will see gains in the next election now depends largely on how it handles the virus during the emergency government. So far, he has failed to find solutions to stop the rise in cases – a result that ironically laid the groundwork for him to implement the emergency and keep his opponents at bay.
“Without a strategy to address Covid-19, they are using these power levers to resist,” said Bridget Welsh, honorary research associate at Asia Research Institute, University of Nottingham, Malaysia. “It is a reflection of instability and will ultimately worsen the cleavages and divisions in a highly polarized society.”
(Updates with more Muhyiddin comments in paragraph 11)