PETALING JAYA: The Malay Rulers are to meet in an emergency session next week to discuss the Covid-19 crisis, according to a Singapore newspaper report.
The Straits Times said the meeting will be held on June 16 after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has had discussions with political leaders.
Barisan Nasional leaders told Free Malaysia Today (FMT) they were unaware of any such audience with the King, but an aide to PKR president and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was quoted by the Straits Times as saying: “Things are very fluid and it’s best to wait until Wednesday”.
The Singapore report quoted a source close to a royal family as saying the meeting was not a session of the Rulers’ Conference but “a special emergency meeting”. It would discuss the worsening Covid-19 situation, the slow roll-out of the vaccination programme and calls for the state of emergency to end and for Parliament to reconvene.
The Rulers’ Conference is scheduled to be held on June 30 and July 1.
Earlier today, opposition politician Khairuddin Abu Hassan had posted on Twitter that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, had agreed to meet the leaders of all political parties. He said he hoped the Rulers would find “a formula to unite and rebuild Malaysia”.
However, aides to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and MCA president Wee Ka Siong told FMT no invitation to such a meeting had been received. MIC president S A Vigneswaran also told FMT that he did not receive any notification of the meeting with the King.
