KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy today urged the government to explain the role of the Malaysian Armed Forces before they are deployed tomorrow to assist civilian authorities in enforcing the movement control order (MCO).
Its chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib said while the move is welcomed, the role that the Armed Forces will play must be made clear to the public to avoid panic.
“No government deploys its military domestically unnecessarily and without just cause. The reasons should be made public and the tasks and responsibilities of the military must be made clear. This is to avoid panic and misunderstanding, especially in the absence of a formal declaration of a national emergency.
“The military should be strictly limited to complementing the efforts of the police force in enforcing the partial lockdown,” he said.
Azrul warned that deployment of the military in peacetime should never be treated lightly.
“The armed forces are not trained in the same way as law enforcement bodies such as the police. Police deal with the domestic civilian population within the context of law enforcement. Soldiers are trained to deal with combatants and foreign aggressors. Despite their involvement in humanitarian operations, they are not always interchangeable.”
“Therefore it is important for the rules (dos and don’ts) for military deployment to be widely known to avoid any unwanted and adverse incidents. This is a public health crisis.
“Having the military will definitely help increase coverage of enforcement of the MCO, and its physical presence on the streets will communicate strongly to citizens that this is an unprecedented crisis that requires their cooperation for the country to get through,” Azrul added.
He said whether the deployment of the Armed Forces will help reduce the numbers, still depends on the cooperation and discipline of Malaysians.
“The success of others such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan (in battling Covid-19) did not depend on the presence of the military but the cooperation of their citizens,” he said.
Yesterday Senior Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said it was decided in a meeting that the military help the police in monitoring the events happening currently.
He said this was to ensure people abide by the order to stay put in their homes.
“The military will be deployed beginning this Sunday. So, we are confident that with the help from the military, the control order would be enforced better and we hope the people would continue to abide by the government order,” Ismail said.
