A general view of Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur October 25, 2020. — Picture by Hari Anggara
KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Calls by various quarters for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to set up a body with absolute power such as the National Operations Council (NOC) are not suitable to be implemented at the moment, according to the prime minister’s principal private secretary.
Datuk Dr Marzuki Mohamad said the proposal was a backward step which could impede the government’s plans and the efforts of civil servants, frontliners, industry players and the people to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and bring the country out of the current health and economic crisis.
“The prime minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin), when announcing the implementation of Emergency 2021, has also stressed that the proclamation of Emergency by His Majesty does not mean the country has been placed under an administration with absolute authority like military rule.
“A civilian government is still functioning and the characteristics of this civilian government should be defended throughout the period of the Emergency,” he said in a video on the management of the Emergency which was uploaded on Facebook.
He said the situation in the country now is totally different from that in 1969 when an emergency was declared after racial riots broke out, resulting in a loss of lives. — Bernama