PM: Govt yet to decide on whether state of Emergency to be declared in Melaka

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has yet to make a decision on whether a state of Emergency will be declared in Melaka, following the dissolution of the state assembly there, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The Prime Minister said that they had a Cabinet meeting on Friday (Oct 8), where they discussed the situation.

He said they would have to wait until the deputy Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Nazrin Shah was briefed about the situation by the Attorney-General, Health Ministry, and the Election Commission.

"The Cabinet will wait for the briefing before making a decision. The Cabinet will make a decision next week," he told reporters at the sidelines of the soft launch of the Keluarga Malaysia concept at Angkasapuri on Friday.

Ismail Sabri had been asked if a state of Emergency would be declared in Melaka to avoid polls, as there was still a high number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

Sultan Nazrin was currently performing the functions of the King for the period as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong were visiting the United Kingdom.

The Election Commission (EC) was officially informed of the dissolution of the 14th Melaka state legislative assembly on Oct 4 from Melaka state legislative assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh.

Based on Article 19 (4) of the Melaka State Constitution, a state election must be held within 60 days after the date of the dissolution of the state assembly.

Ab Rauf announced in a special media conference that the Melaka state assembly was dissolved on Oct 4 upon consent by Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam.

This followed the move by four assemblymen - Datuk Seri Idris Haron (BN-Sungai Udang), Datuk Nor Azman Hassan (BN-Pantai Kundor), Norhizam (Independent) and Noor Effandi (Bersatu) - in declaring that they had lost confidence in Chief Minister Datuk Sulaiman Md Ali’s leadership, hence causing the state government led by Barisan Nasional (BN) to collapse.