FINALLY, after 72 hours of uncertainty (some call it "panic"), the Emergency issue has been laid to rest.
We can almost hear the sigh of public relief that what many of us feared would happen did not come to pass, although it was obviously not something Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had expected concerning the planned meeting of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah with the Malay rulers before His Majesty made his decision.
It should also not be interpreted as a rejection of the prime minister's request (or "advice") to His Majesty. After all, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong did say: "After discussing the matter with the Malay rulers and taking into account the situation in the country, the king also believes in the ability of the government, under Muhyiddin's leadership, to continue implementing policies and actions to contain the spread of Covid-19.
"Al-Sultan Abdullah feels that the government has succeeded in handling the pandemic well. Al- Sultan Abdullah is of the view that there is no need for an emergency to be declared for the country or (in) any part of Malaysia."
The issue underscores the critical crossroad the nation is facing. On Sunday morning, a young lawyer asked me whether the request for time to consult the Malay rulers was a signal that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was not "satisfied" that the prime minister had the majority support of the members of parliament and, therefore, he need not entertain the latter's request?
I replied that we need not go there because as a constitutional monarch, His Majesty knows that issue is best dealt on the floor of the Dewan Rakyat.
The last three days had been a hectic one for me. It began late on Friday afternoon when a Kuala Lumpur-based journalist texted me a message that the prime minister intended to seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in Kuantan to seek his blessing to proclaim an Emergency. "Can I have your comments?" she asked.
I sent her a copy of Article 150 of the Federal Constitution and told her to digest it. I told her the three things she must focus on — Is there a grave emergency or at least an imminent danger of such a grave emergency? Is the grave emergency threatening the security, economic life or public order of the country (or part of it)?
Is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong "satisfied" of its existence? For the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to be "satisfied" of the existence of such a "grave emergency", he must necessarily be given credible and convincing evidence. His Highness cannot make his decision merely on the word of a prime minister or cabinet ministers.
I told the journalist that under Article 40 of the Federal Constitution (which requires the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to act on the "advice" of the prime minister), His Highness could ask for information from the prime minister. After receiving it, the Agong will certainly need time to consider and evaluate.
His Majesty must do that so he can make a proper "informed decision" of the matter for the nation as a whole. When the king told the prime minister on Friday that he wanted to consult the Council of Rulers, it was to ensure that he did not make his decision in haste. It was not just to buy time for His Majesty.
Ironically then, instead of making His Majesty "satisfied" that a Proclamation of Emergency was necessary to handle the Covid-19 pandemic, the prime minister apparently "satisfied" His Majesty that the task has already been done well by the government and, therefore, there was no need for such a proclamation.
With emergency out of the window, what next for the prime minister? One school of thought says "he can till soldier on with a doubtful majority if he can strike confidence and cobble agreements with his political rivals".
A second view is that he should resign and allow the nation to have a new prime minister. A third view says that he should test his majority in the Dewan Rakyat. If he loses the 2021 Budget vote, then let the voters decide at a new general election.
A fourth view resurrected the earlier suggestion for a unity government. My friends feel that is what the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has in mind — a "reconciliation government" working together to achieve a common purpose.
The writer, a former federal counsel at the Attorney-General's Chambers, is deputy chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War
