“These people don’t understand. If there was no emergency, we might not be able to lower the numbers (Covid-19 cases) as soon as possible,” he told reporters after an event here today.

Two days ago, several opposition leaders went to the palace to hand over a memorandum requesting for an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Earlier today, it was reported that the King had agreed to grant an audience to the opposition’s Tamat Darurat committee to hand over a petition calling for an end to the emergency.

Hamzah did not deny that Mahathir and the committee had a right to submit the memorandum but maintained that the former prime minister should understand that the emergency was necessary due to the pandemic.

“Whether it (the petition) is accepted or not is another thing. To me, he was the prime minister before and he knows that everything we’ve done is for the people and the nation.

“He (Mahathir) himself has gotten the vaccine,” he quipped.

Tamat Darurat committee chairman Khalid Samad said he had received a letter from Istana Negara today confirming the audience with the King but no date had been set yet.

The aim of the audience is to inform the King of the negative impacts of the emergency and the need to call it off for the sake of the people.

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