Royal reproach limits Muhyiddin’s political options

Malaysian king contradicts premier’s timeline for reopening Parliament amid speculation a royally endorsed ‘unity’ government is in the offing

After a special meeting of Malaysia’s nine royal households, King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said on June 16 that Parliament, which was effectively suspended at the beginning of the year under an emergency decree on public health grounds, should reconvene as soon as possible.

In a reproach to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the palace called for reducing bureaucracy, speeding up the national vaccine rollout, and allowing elected lawmakers to debate emergency ordinances and the government’s coronavirus recovery plan.

Despite fewer new infections since a nationwide lockdown went into effect on June 1, Malaysia still has the highest number of Covid-19 cases per capita in Southeast Asia. The acute health crisis prompted the king to summon political party leaders for dialogue, culminating in a special meeting of the Conference of Rulers (CoR) earlier this week.

A separate statement by the CoR, a powerful but mainly ceremonial body that includes the king and eight other hereditary sultans, concluded there wasn’t sufficient cause to extend the nationwide state of emergency, which gives the premier enhanced powers to enact new laws and approve spending, beyond its original end date of August 1.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Myanmar’s crisis becomes ASEAN’s shame

ASEAN-led mediation has wholly failed to de-escalate Myanmar's crisis underscoring the bloc's enduring impotence in times of need

Fire and flames ate away at the flag of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during heated protests on the streets of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, last weekend after two emissaries from the regional organization met with junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

ASEAN chairman Lim Jock Hoi and Brunei’s Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Erywan Pehin Yusof visited Naypyitaw on June 4 to discuss the appointment of the grouping’s special envoy and delivery of humanitarian aid, but departed amid questions of whether the Bruneian diplomats had inadvertently legitimized Myanmar’s military regime.

By Tuesday (June 8) morning, a statement on the visit was removed from the ASEAN secretariat’s website after it had referred to the senior general and chief architect of February’s coup as the “Chairman of the State Administrative Council” (SAC) – in other words, the leader of the country rather than the leader of the armed forces.

The diplomatic gaffe, coupled with the slow pace of progress on implementing the five-point consensus reached by ASEAN leaders at an April 24 meeting in Jakarta, has sown fury among opponents of the military takeover in Myanmar and fueled rising criticism among the region’s commentariat of Brunei’s management of the crisis as ASEAN’s chair.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Singapore on the winning side of Covid-19 fight

City-state has contained latest outbreak better than its neighbors and is determined to overcome the 'Covid zero' dilemma

As Southeast Asia struggles to contain a Covid-19 resurgence, Singapore has so far avoided the harsh fate of neighboring nations that have fallen ill to second waves of infection far deadlier than the first. But the island nation is determined not to become a victim of its virus-curbing success.

Nearly three weeks since re-imposing lockdown-like conditions to arrest its largest Covid-19 community outbreak in months, daily infections in the city-state are only a fraction of those recorded in neighboring countries, even though all four variants of concern (VOCs) have been detected locally.

To mount a stronger defense against the more contagious strains, including those first identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil and India, the island nation has recalibrated its vaccine strategy to prioritize first dosage so that a wider segment of the population receives immune benefits more quickly.

It has also opened up its vaccination program to adolescents and teenagers before completing inoculations of adults, making it one of the first countries in the world to do so. Around one-quarter of the population has been fully vaccinated so far, more than almost anywhere else in Asia, where Covid-19 vaccination campaigns have been sluggish.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.