KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian government is seeking to invoke emergency powers and is awaiting the King's consent to do so. Parliament can be suspended during an emergency, while by-elections and the general election can be postponed. The federal government would be empowered to push through policies that it would normally not be able to.
What will this emergency entail? The"economic emergency" that the premier is seeking would not affect the daily lives of Malaysians. There would be no military on the streets and people can go about their business as usual. If this is true, it would be different from the national emergencies declared in the past, including the one following deadly racial riots in May 1969.
Why is an emergency being considered now? The government is currently battling a Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia, with Sabah being the worst affected, with a spike in the number of cases following campaigning for state polls in September. It is also facing a coup attempt by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, and many Malaysians are not keen on a general election during a Covid-19 crisis.
The riots continued the next day, and the government declared a state of emergency on May 15 to prevent the unrest from spreading to other parts of the country.
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