MCO won’t work without emergency powers, says former apex court judge
He said recent experience had proven that it is not easy to control people’s movements in efforts to minimise the spread of the virus.
(MalaysiaNow) – Former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram has welcomed the declaration of a Covid-19 emergency, saying it is not only legally and medically justified but could have been implemented last year when it was first proposed.
Sri Ram also disagreed that the movement control order (MCO) was adequate to fight the pandemic, saying it could only be effective when complemented with the state of emergency.
He said recent experience had proven that it is not easy to control people’s movements in efforts to minimise the spread of the virus.
“Citizens are very difficult to control. You tell them you don’t go to Ipoh, they will go. You tell them please don’t go to Johor Bahru, that is the place everybody will go, because they want to find out why they have been told not to go there,” Sri Ram told MalaysiaNow.
Yesterday, Pakatan Harapan leaders accused Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin of seeking wider powers through the emergency move, saying the MCO was an adequate tool to help authorities fight the surge in Covid-19 infections which have so far killed 559 people.
“We feel that existing laws including the MCO that was announced yesterday (Monday) are adequate to mobilise all resources and strength to fight this pandemic,” said a joint statement signed by DAP’s Lim Guan Eng, PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim and Amanah’s Mohamad Sabu.
But Sri Ram said it was proven that the MCO had failed on its own.
“MCO alone cannot work because without emergency powers and control over the affected areas, the government cannot function.
“The hospitals are overloaded. There must be powers to comandeer private hospitals or private buildings and have them converted to hospitals – give them power,” he added.
