Malaysia: Agong to table political leaders’ views at conference

• THE Yang di-Pertuan Agong will table the matters raised by political leaders at the Conference of Rulers meeting on 16 Jun 21, said Istana Negara.
• In a statement, Comptroller of the Royal Household Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said the King had met with 18 political leaders in person and virtually over the past week.
• “Following the meetings, the suggestions that have been given by the political leaders will be brought up at the Conference of Rulers meeting on 16 Jun 21, at 2.30pm,” he said in the statement.
• Ahmad Fadil clarified that the meetings with the political leaders were the Agong’s own initiative due to his concern on the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country and the emergency declaration.
• The Conference of Rulers meeting on 16 Jun 21 will be the first time the rulers are meeting following the cancellation of the Conference of Rulers meeting on 24 Feb 21 due to the second movement-control order.
• The last Conference of Rulers’ meeting in Oct 21 resulted in the monarch rejecting Muhyiddin’s initial attempt at seeking an emergency rule.
• The meeting was decided last week amid the deepening Covid-19 crisis in the country, issues with the vaccination programme, calls for an end to the state of emergency and Parliament to reconvene.
• The king may be contemplating doing two things, said Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
• “Number one is whether to convene parliamentary sitting, even if emergency is ongoing. And number two is a more fundamental question, whether to extend the emergency beyond 1 Aug 21,” he said.
• On his part, James Chin, a professor at the University of Tasmania, opined that the rulers are unlikely to make major political decisions. “The royals want to be seen as above politics, so whatever they do, it will be seen as a suggestion, rather than an order.”
• Still, they’re under tremendous pressure to tell Muhyiddin to reconvene parliament, he added.

External Link : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-15/malaysia-s-royals-to-meet-as-pressure-builds-over-emergency-rule

External Link : https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/321768