2021 Malaysian state of emergency

First Transition and Collapse · Treatise · 3 min read

COVID-19 Emergency: Why Parliament Could Not Meet

On One Side: Delta, Hospital Beds, and Vaccines; On the Other: The PM's Majority, Emergency Ordinances, and Public Royal Rebuke

The 2021 national emergency suspended normal parliamentary operations citing the pandemic. The government argued it was necessary to centralize resources and avoid elections; critics pointed out that ordinary laws could enforce lockdowns, and suspending Parliament simultaneously protected Muhyiddin's unstable majority. The King later clarified that Parliament could still convene during the emergency.