Baru appeals to King, Council of Rulers not to agree with PM’s bid for emergency

Baru Bian.

KUCHING (Oct 25): Selangau MP Baru Bian has appealed to Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Council of Rulers not to agree with the prime minister to issue any proclamation of emergency.

In a statement today, the Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) lawmaker said there was a need to stop eroding the public’s trust in the country’s institutions.

“Instead, leaders from across the political divide have a duty to demonstrate our love and care for our neighbours to fight this pandemic. Leaders have a duty to exercise the highest level of self-discipline and to lead by example, not ‘do as I say but don’t do as I do’.

“Leaders have a duty to follow strictly all SOPs (standard operating procedures) and to cooperate fully with all directives from the Ministry of Health (MoH). Only then can we inspire our fellow Malaysians in this final push against this menace that is Covid-19,” said the Ba Kelalan assemblyman.

Baru noted that there was trepidation that the prime minister may cause the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to issue a proclamation of emergency under Article 150 of the Federal Constitution to deal with Covid-19.

According to him, Article 150(4) of the Federal Constitution would allow the federal government to take over the whole administration of the country including those within the jurisdiction of state governments.

“There is cause to be concerned, as such action would surely have far-reaching consequences. Amongst others it would mean that there is no oversight over laws issued during this time.

“This would be akin to a dictatorship where the ordinary process of debating laws within parliament to ensure their fairness and offer a check and balance would be done away with. Democracy in the nation will literally stand still,” he pointed out.

Baru further said that an emergency could potentially turn the country into “a banana republic”, where there typically existed a supreme leader with unquestionable will.

He said the judicial and legislative branches of the government would be rendered impotent, allowing this leader unfettered powers to rule by declaration, adding: “It was Lord acton who said ‘power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely’.”

Given this, he said such powers must be used with the greatest of care and in the rarest of circumstances.

“I will be the first to acknowledge that the Covid-19 pandemic is indeed an unprecedented crisis, with its full impact still on the horizon, yet I see no need to resort to a proclamation of emergency.

“The MoH and its officers have done a sterling job in controlling the spread of the disease since January 2020. In fact Malaysia is by far better than even some developed nations in this regard,” he observed.

More importantly, Malaysia had done so by using existing laws and procedures without resorting to Article 150, he said.

The “Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Act 2020” had recently come into force to ameliorate the economic impact of Covid-19 while the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act was enacted precisely to deal with infectious diseases, he noted.

Baru opined that the Covid-19 pandemic “does not represent an emergency as envisaged by Article 150 of the Federal Constitution” as none of the special powers as stated in Article 150 were required in order to deal with the situation.

In the circumstances, one would have the irresistible conclusion that this emergency was not justified as per Article 150 of the Federal Constitution but for political survival of an illegitimate government, he said.

“We have come this far, our containment of the first and subsequent second wave is to be applauded, we now have to stand together again to contain this third wave, we have done it, and we can do it again.

“All we need is a renewed faith in the health authorities and medical personnel, and the procedures that they have put in place. They, who are working tirelessly to safeguard the health of all Malaysians deserve nothing less than our full support.

“We are all Malaysians and we can stay safe, and still have a right to free and fair democratic government. These values need not be mutually exclusive,” Baru added.

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