Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (July 29): Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin “cannot absolve himself” of the blunder over the revocation of the emergency ordinances, said former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In a statement today, Dr Mahathir called for the resignation of Muhyiddin and the Cabinet, saying the prime minister has deliberately lied to Parliament over the revocation.

“He [Muhyiddin] must know that he has no power to revoke the ordinances on his own. But still the announcement was made, as if he had the power when such powers are solely in the hands of the King during the Emergency.

“Although it was not Muhyiddin who announced the revocation on July 26, but de-facto Law Minister [Datuk Seri] Takiyuddin Hassan, Muhyiddin cannot absolve himself of the responsibility,” Dr Mahathir said.

“He made no attempt to correct it when Takiyuddin made the announcement, or stop Takiyuddin despite being seated right in front of him [in the Dewan Rakyat]. Neither did Muhyiddin make any clarification in the following days,” the Langkawi MP added.

As such, Dr Mahathir said Muhyiddin is “responsible for this shameful act”, as are the other members of the Cabinet.

“Therefore it is incumbent upon him to resign as prime minister and his Cabinet members must follow suit,” he added.

Earlier today, in a statement issued by Istana Negara, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong said he had not given his consent for the revocation of emergency ordinances on July 21 as claimed by Takiyuddin, and that the government was supposed to table the ordinances in the Dewan Rakyat to be debated.

This is in total contrast to the announcement by Takiyuddin in the Dewan Rakyat on July 26 that the Cabinet had revoked all emergency ordinances on July 21.

Today’s Dewan Rakyat session was cut short after the King’s statement was read out by Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The afternoon session was eventually cancelled on the grounds that two Covid-19 cases had been detected among Parliament personnel this week.

The five-day special parliamentary meeting will resume on Monday (Aug 2) for the final session.

Edited ByS Kanagaraju
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