Covid-19 bill for 'temporary relief' in the works

UPDATED 7.40PM | The government is currently drafting the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill which would be tabled during the July sitting of the Dewan Rakyat.

This was announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin during the unveiling of the Plan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara (Penjana) this afternoon.

"The bill will provide temporary relief for written obligations for a certain period.

"The government hopes that with this new law, there will be continuity in the lives of Malaysian citizens. God willing, the government will table this bill in Parliament come July," said Muhyiddin.

On May 30, the government had called for public input on the bill, which at the time was aimed at mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak towards the economy, people, and industries.

The deadline for submissions was today.

Although Muhyiddin did not provide details, the new law is likely to mimic Singapore's Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 which was passed by Singapore's Parliament on April 7 and gazetted just two days later.

This new law defined how a person or entity can seek temporary relief from some contractual obligations.

The counterparty would then be disallowed from commencing or continuing legal action against - or seize the property from - a person seeking relief.

Most importantly, the law stopped individuals or entities from initiating winding up or bankruptcy proceedings against the person seeking relief.

Last month, National House Buyers Association (HBA) honorary secretary-general Chang Kim Loong had warned that if Malaysia does not pass a similar law in time, the courts would be swamped with litigations.

The Dewan Rakyat will resume sitting on July 13 while the Dewan Negara will only sit on Sept 2.

Unless the government somehow fast-tracks the passage of the bill, the gazetting of the new law will likely only happen by late-September.