KUALA LUMPUR: The government has decided to stick to the existing emergency law instead of amending the Federal Constitution to postpone elections during a pandemic.
Minister in Prime Minister's Department Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said that to propose for such an amendment was "inappropriate" and would be "in conflict" with the Federal Constitution.
Aside from that, he also pointed out that to amend the constitution, the government would need a two-thirds majority support in the Dewan Rakyat, which the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government does not have.
"The government may propose to postpone an election if this pandemic is deemed to be declared an emergency as provided under Article 150(1) of the Federal Constitution," he said in a written reply to a question from Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (BN-Padang Terap) who asked if the government plans on proposing a specific bill to allow the postponement of an election during the Covid-19 pandemic to stop the chain of infection.
Days after Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin proposed to impose a state of emergency in the country, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong issued a decree rejecting the idea on Oct 25.
Opposition leaders have been accusing the government of using the emergency declaration to avoid testing its majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
After his proposal to the King was rejected, Muhyiddin said that the upcoming Sarawak state election and the Batu Sapi by-election will still have to take place amid Covid-19 unless an emergency is declared in both places.