Emergency: PH has not selected 3 candidates for independent special committee - Saifuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan (PH) has yet to make a decision on its three candidates who will join the Independent Special Committee to handle the implementation of emergency.

Its secretary-general, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, said Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had just yesterday received an invitation letter from the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan.

"I have asked Datuk Takiyuddin for some additional information such as terms of reference and also the composition of the committee.

"The letter dated 14 January 2020 is only in the form of an invitation and asks the opposition to name three candidates," he said when contacted by Astro AWANI here, on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Saifuddin, who is also the former Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, said PH would hold a meeting in the near future.

"Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the Leader of the Opposition will discuss this matter with the leaders of the opposition bloc in the near future," he added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin during the special announcement of the emergency, said an Independent Special Committee will be established to ensure the implementation of the emergency is made fairly and transparently.

The committee will be established under an ordinance to advise His Majesty whether a major emergency still occurs in the Federation to continue the period of the Proclamation of Emergency or to end it earlier than the due date.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah had earlier consented to the Emergency Proclamation be implemented as a proactive measure to curb the symptoms of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Al-Sultan Abdullah also consented to the government's proposal for the formation of an independent committee which will consist of government and opposition MPs as well as health and related experts.