PRIME Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin made a bold decision to declare Covid-19 as an eminent danger and a real security threat to the lives of all Malaysians.
In security studies, such an action is called securitisation or a move to declare an issue as a real security threat, which must be urgently mitigated, through an extraordinary approach. The sole referent object to be protected through this emergency decision is none other than the lives of all Malaysians.
This is evident when he said: “I realise that you, my brothers and sisters, may feel that this decision will make it difficult for you to go about your daily lives. But, this move is necessary to prevent the spread of Covid-19 which could claim the lives of Malaysians, as it has thousands of people in other countries.”
He added that “drastic action should be taken immediately to prevent the spread of the disease by limiting the movement of the public. This is the only way we can prevent more people from being infected by the outbreaks that can destroy lives”.
None of us, therefore, should disobey the various government measures to combat the spread of Covid-19, including the temporary closure of all masjid and surau for the next two weeks.
Muhyiddin demonstrated his strategic capability by deciding that the Covid-19 pandemic must be handled by Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN) or the National Security Council, the first time that a Malaysian Prime Minister had entrusted the MKN to become the secretariat to the handling of a security threat with wide-ranging implication.
This shows the deep concern about the management of foreign-origin security threat which jeopardises our domestic human security sector and enables the MKN to act as the proper inter-agency coordinator in the management of Covid-19 threat.
It facilitates the management of a serious threat to be handled by a single agency under the charge of the Prime Minister, with the cooperation of other related agencies, including the Health Ministry and other stake-holders.
Among its benefits include a streamlined information gathering and sharing, coordinated response management and mobilisation, as well as an efficient command and control of the situation.
What has been done by this administration, therefore, is a big move which should lead to a permanency in the context of future security management by the MKN. This is because one of the findings from my research on Malaysia’s security management is that MKN has rarely been tasked to manage such a national security threat, except for national disaster like floods.
The MKN has almost all the necessary expertise and committees on security management which enables it to function as an efficient coordinating secretariat for the management of security.
My research also discovers that the Najib administration did not entrust the MKN with such a responsibility when Sabah was intruded by the Jamalul Kiram led terrorists on March 5, 2013. This issue was being handled by the Defence and Home Ministry.
Neither was MKN given the responsibility to manage and coordinate the disappearance of MAS Flight MH373 with its 239 passengers and crew on 8 March, 2014, which remained a mystery until today.
The same thing happened when MH17 was shot down over Ukrainian airspace on 17 July, 2017, which killed its 298 passengers and crews. As such, these issues were perceived as being poorly managed leading to public complaints, criticisms, and frustration.
In conclusion, Muhyiddin has taken a decisive and bold move to securitize Covid-19 and entrusted the MKN to become the inter-agency management secretariat to mitigate this threat.
The writer is a student of strategic and security studies, and was a member of parliament for Parit Sulong, Johor, 1990-2003