Malaysia’s parliament met for the first time this year on Monday after being halted due to a coronavirus outbreak, but critics have branded the session as a charade that would not genuinely test Prime Minister Najib Razak’s support.
Following Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s proposal, the king announced a state of emergency in January to combat Covid-19, effectively shutting down parliament.
However, Muhyiddin’s political opponents accused him of exploiting the situation to escape a no-confidence vote in parliament while bolstering his shaky coalition government, which was on the verge of collapsing.
Despite the emergency declaration and statewide lockdown, the pandemic has only gotten worse, thanks to the extremely infectious Delta type. At the weekend, Malaysia’s caseload surpassed one million.
Faced with rising public outrage over parliament’s closure and pressure from the king, Muhyiddin agreed to call a five-day session of parliament before the state of emergency ends in August.
For the commencement of the session, lawmakers assembled in the 222-seat lower house wearing masks and divided by transparent screens.
It will focus on the epidemic, with Muhyiddin and other ministers likely to brief parliamentarians on a recovery plan and other relevant issues.
Rival politicians, on the other hand, have called the brief session a fraud, claiming that MPs are not expected to vote on anything.
Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader, told AFP that the legislature was facing “one of its darkest moments” ahead of its resumption.
He stated that the brief session is “undemocratic” and “a tool by Muhyiddin to stifle political critics and preserve his unstable dictatorship in power.”
Muhyiddin’s administration has been riven by infighting since he seized power without an election in March last year following the collapse of a reformist cabinet.
The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), his most powerful backer, indicated earlier this month that it was withdrawing its support for his alliance.
However, UMNO is split, with some MPs still supporting Muhyiddin, and his position appears secure in the medium future.
