Malaysian lawmakers protest Parliament closure

Police blocked opposition lawmakers from marching on Monday to protest a two-week lockdown of Malaysia's Parliament, which they consider another ploy for the embattled prime minister to dodge a no-confidence vote.

With a crucial parliamentary session due, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin instead postponed it and Parliament will be shut for two weeks.

The health ministry said Parliament was deemed a high-risk venue because four of 11 COVID-19 cases detected among staff and others were suspected to be the fast-spreading delta variant.

Lawmakers and activists questioned the timing of the announcement of Parliament's closure, which came after the king rebuked Muhyiddin's government on Thursday for misleading Parliament on the status of ordinances it issued during the seven-month coronavirus state of emergency.

The opposition immediately filed a motion of no-confidence against Muhyiddin that was expected to have been raised Monday.

Dozens of lawmakers gathered near Parliament and held a banner calling for the resignation of Muhyiddin and his Cabinet.

They slammed the government for cowardice and said they must eventually face the people.

Muhyiddin has led an unstable, unelected governing alliance since March 2020 after he initiated the downfall of the reformist government that won the 2018 elections.

Parliament has been shut down for several months just after he took office and since January this year, after the king approved his plan for an emergency that has failed to tackle the pandemic.

Public anger has built up against the government as Malaysia's COVID-19 cases this year jumped eightfold to more than 1.1 million.

New daily infections breached 10,000 on July 13 for the first time and have stayed there since. Total deaths have risen to above 9,000.

Nearly 20% of the population has been fully vaccinated.