Law minister says govt not amending constitution to postpone polls in pandemic, may opt for emergency instead

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 ― Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan today said the government has no plans to amend the Federal Constitution to hold off elections during the Covid-19 pandemic but may invoke a proclamation of emergency instead.

The de facto law minister explained that creating legislation to postpone elections during the pandemic is against the country’s highest law.

“The creation of a Bill to postpone an election during Covid-19 pandemic is against and inconsistent with the Federal Constitution, while to amend the Federal Constitution, the support of two-thirds  MPs is required.

“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 Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (BN-Padang Terap) today.

Mahdzir had yesterday asked Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin whether the government intends to amend the Constitution or create a specific Bill to enable an election to be postponed during the Covid-19 pandemic to contain the virus.

This is not the first time Muhyiddin's Perikatan Nasional government has raised the emergency proclamation, however, the idea was rejected by Yang Di Pertuan Agong on October 25.

The Opposition has accused Muhyiddin of resorting to an emergency declaration to avoid seeing his Budget 2021 proposal, scheduled for this Friday, be defeated in a vote due to lack of support from MPs.

Muhyiddin holds a slim two-seat majority ― just 113 seats in the 222-strong Parliament. But this majority has not been tested with a vote in the House.

Malaysia is in the grips of a third wave of Covid-19 that has been attributed to the failure of people to comply with health regulations during the Sabah state election in September.

Coming up next is the Batu Sapi parliamentary by-election in Sabah, scheduled for December 5 with an official campaign duration of 13 days. The by-election is called following the recent death of the Batu Sapi MP Datuk Liew Vui Keong.

Sarawak, which holds its state elections every five years separately from the general election, is due to hold its next polls in the middle of next year.