The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has granted an audience to the “Tamat Darurat” (end the state of Emergency) committee.
Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad said that while the date for this has yet to be fixed, he was confident that one would be set as soon as possible.
“The adverse effects of the Emergency are becoming more pronounced day by day,” he said in a statement on Thursday (April 22).
He said that the letter from the Istana Negara was signed by the King’s private secretary Colonel Datuk Nazim Mohd Alim.
Khalid also thanked the King for his concern in the matter.
On Tuesday (April 20), a group of people led by Opposition MPs gathered at Istana Negara to request the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to end the state of Emergency and allow Parliament to reconvene.
It was the second time that the Tamat Darurat committee had requested an audience with the King. The last attempt on March 26 was unsuccessful when they did not receive a reply from palace officials.
The King had in January proclaimed a state of Emergency nationwide until Aug 1 as a proactive measure to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
He had decreed that the Emergency be in force up to Aug 1 or earlier if the number of Covid-19 cases can be controlled and brought down effectively.