KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysia’s prime minister dissolved Parliament yesterday to clear the way for snap elections in a bid to restore political stability as the country emerges from the ravages of Covid-19 and a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal. Elections could be held within weeks following Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s announcement. Polls were not […]
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysia unveiled a tightened national budget for 2023 yesterday but the inclusion of a few billion dollars in cash handouts and tax cuts has fuelled speculation that the government may soon call snap elections. Polls are scheduled to take place in September next year but Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is […]
July 6, 2021
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysia’s parliament will sit this month after being suspended in January under a coronavirus emergency, the government said yesterday, following criticism the embattled premier was using the crisis to cling to power.
The king declared a nationwide state of emergency at the start of the year on the advice of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to fight an escalating COVID-19 outbreak.
Parliament was suspended at the same time, leading critics to charge Muhyiddin – who took office last year – was using the emergency to shore up his weak coalition and avoid a no-confidence vote.
But anger mounted sharply, and even the king himself recently called for the legislature to reconvene before the emergency officially ends in August to debate the government’s pandemic response.