Lawmakers march, but halted by cops

KUALA LUMPUR: Unhappy that the five-day special Parliament sitting was halted because of a Covid-19 outbreak, a group of Opposition MPs attempted to march from Dataran Merdeka to the Parliament grounds.

The MPs, led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, were seen carrying a long white banner calling for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to resign as prime minister as they headed towards Padang Merbok yesterday morning closely watched by cops.

However, they were stopped near the Dato Onn roundabout and advised to disperse by police at about 11am.

Before the march, MPs took turns addressing the public from 9.30am, with Malaysia United Democratic Alliance founder Syed Saddiq Syed Abdullah slamming the Perikatan Nasional government.

He said many MPs are hoping to carry the people’s views to Parliament but this was not possible as the current special sitting was postponed due to Covid-19.

“If this is not an act of cowardice, I’m not sure what is. The excuse of Covid-19 doesn’t make sense.

“If you don’t consider this an insult to our democracy, Constitution and parliamentary institution, I don’t know what is. This is the time when Malaysians should come together, and let’s fight for a future together,” he said.

Semporna MP Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, also Parti Warisan Sabah president, described Monday as a “black day in Malaysian history”, where the Federal Constitution and a Royal Decree were not upheld in Parliament.

He added that as MPs, all of them had the legal right to enter Parliament grounds.

Anwar then took the microphone and declared that the Perikatan government led by Muhyiddin had “fallen” and claimed that 107 MPs had attended the protest.

He also alleged that the government had disobeyed the monarchy and this was an unbecoming act.

“This is why we are congregating and marching towards Parliament,” he added.

Langkawi MP Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad then appeared shortly after Anwar, and the two erstwhile foes shared the stage to urge Muhyiddin to resign.

Dr Mahathir said the rule of law must prevail.

After the former premier spoke, the Opposition MPs led by Anwar marched towards Padang Merbok, accompanied by a heavy police presence. At around 11am, the MPs and media personnel began dispersing after being ordered to do so by the police.

On Sunday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Parliament sitting would be postponed for two weeks starting July 29 to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 after a few cases were reported.