KUALA LUMPUR:The Pakatan Harapan (PH) Presidential Council today rejected Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's rationale that emergency powers were needed to save Malaysia from COVID-19.

In a statement today, the Presidential Council said existing laws, including the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO), was sufficient to gather all the resources and strength to overcome this epidemic.

According to the statement, Muhyiddin's action to propose an emergency when he has lost the support of the majority of MPs, including Machang (Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub) and Padang Rengas (Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz), shows that the move is not acceptable at all.

"The Presidential Council also raises concerns that this declaration of emergency will affect efforts to revive the economy and investor confidence and will not help overcome the problem of unemployment and loss of income among the people.

"Do not hide behind COVID-19 and burden the people with a declaration of emergency in order to save themselves," it added.

The statement was signed by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) President Mohamad Sabu, and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng.

Regarding the election issue, they said, the Presidential Council saw the action that had been taken before, namely the declaration of emergency for a division of Parliament or the State Legislative Assembly, was sufficient.

"For the Sarawak State Election, it does not need to be held until the end of August 2021, while the 15th General Election only needs to be held by 2023. Therefore, the reason given by Tan Sri Muhyiddin in this issue is not acceptable at all.

"In fact, we see the action of suspending Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies at a time when the executive and the judiciary can still function as usual, has affected the check-and-balance process, hampering the country's democracy and denying the voice of the people," the statement added.

They further claimed that the emergency power means that it gives the Prime Minister absolute power to do almost anything arbitrarily.