KUALA LUMPUR:UMNO upholds the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's order regarding the declaration of Emergency under Article 150 (1) of the Federal Constitution, said its President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

In a statement today, he said, however, UMNO stressed that all powers under the Emergency Ordinance should be focused on pandemic control matters alone.

He further clarified that the assertion is based on the rationale put forward by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that the emergency declaration application is only to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Throughout the Emergency, UMNO hopes that the principles of human rights, civil liberties, transparency and the rule of law should be maintained.

"The government should also give assurances to care about the issues of the people's interest and keep promises to resolve the people's survival," he added.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bagan Datuk, said the issues of the well-being of the people include the demands regarding the unconditional production of i-Sinar, the extension of the moratorium, and the welfare of the people as a whole.

He said, UMNO insists that efforts should be made to restore and restore the function of the Constitution and the practice of Parliamentary Democracy as soon as the Emergency proclaimed achieves its goals.

The statement was issued after the UMNO Political Bureau Meeting at Menara Dato Onn, this afternoon