KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — The Committee for Ending the Emergency Declaration has held a meeting with Opposition representatives ahead of its audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

Its chairman Khalid Samad, however, did not disclose when the audience with the Agong is expected to take place.

“After discussions with representatives from the Opposition parties, the Committee for Ending the Emergency Declaration agreed to inform the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of the adverse effects of the Emergency on Malaysia,” he said in a statement.

The Shah Alam MP said that the committee will meet with as many stakeholders as possible, such as the business community, non-governmental organisations and associations, in the near future to shore up its preparations for its audience with the Agong.

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“We will also seek views from health, economic and legal experts to shed light on how the Emergency has inadvertently harmed the country.

“Based on all the information gathered, we are confident that everyone will agree that ending the Emergency is the best way to save our country,” Khalid added in the statement.

On April 22, the committee received an invitation from Istana Negara, as signed by the Agong’s senior private secretary, Colonel (Rtd) Datuk Nazim Mohd Alim, informing it that the monarch had consented to an audience. However, no specific date was given.

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On January 12, the Agong consented to a state of Emergency in the country until August 1, or until the current wave of Covid-19 subsides.

The Emergency Proclamation was made under Article 150(1) of the Federal Constitution, which states that the Agong can call it if he is “satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security, or the economic life, or public order in the Federation or any part thereof is threatened”.