When in Selangor follow Selangor law, not Perak court case

Hullo, bukan PKR yang kuasa dan tetapkan, okay. Si Ketum takde apa-apa daulat.

Selangor ada Raja Melayu, mewajarkan MB kita Melayu-Islam dan mewajibkan agar Ketua Setiausaha pun seorang Melayu-Islam juga – lihat Perkara 52(2)(a) perlembagaan negeri. Ambik lah ko DAP.

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Constitutional lawyer Tommy Thomas argues that regardless of whether Khalid resigns or not, “the law deems that he has vacated the menteri besar’s post”.

He cites Perak, where Pakatan’s Nizar Jamaluddin did not resign either but the sultan nonetheless appointed Umno’s Zambry Abdul Kadir as the new menteri besar to replace the PAS man.

Tommy Thomas

Constitutional convention not meant to be enforced by law

Tommy argues that “Khalid does not have the necessary constitutional legitimacy to remain in office” following the more than 28 Aduns expressing their support for Wan Azizah.

The MB may choose to resign (as Sabah’s Joseph Pairin Kitingan did on 17 March 1994) or he may “hold out” — to borrow Tommy Thomas’ words. Simply put, Pairin was conventional and Khalid is not. However not abiding by convention does not make Khalid illegitimate in his MB position.

Tommy’s argument is “Evidence of loss of confidence is also not limited to motions carried on the floor of the assembly”, see The Malaysian Insider (but where else). He referred to the Federal Court judgment in the Nizar vs Zambry case saying that “loss of confidence” may be gathered from other extraneous sources.

CJ Arifin Zakaria in his ruling said that representations made by members of the Perak legislative assembly that the MB no longer enjoys the support of the majority Aduns as well as the admission by the Perak MB himself that he (Nizar) no longer enjoys the support could be taken to prove a loss of confidence.

Tommy in his TMI article said “Khalid must be reminded of the law as laid down by the Federal Court”.

Might we take it that Tommy is deliberately misleading the layman because as a constitutional loyar, he surely must know better. No doubt the judges said all those things when they heard the Nizar case but that was in Perak.

The supreme law in Selangor where it concerns procedures with regard to the Menteri Besar’s office is the written constitution of Selangor.

Nizar vs Zambry, heard by the Federal Court in February 2010, did not give any ruling nor lay down any law for Selangor as Tommy has outrageously imputed.

When in Rome

Perak has its constitution whereas we in Selangor have our own. The constitution of Selangor is supreme in our state. There is no need for us to follow Perak when our Undang-Undang Tubuh Negeri Selangor are already express in their provisions.

Hence the Perak court ruling should not be used as the authority for Selangor nor override what is enshrined in our state constitution.

Furthermore the circumstances in Perak were different. Nizar menghadap Sultan and boldly uttered, “Patik pohon sembah derhaka“. Khalid on the other hand is advised by the Sultan to sit tight until HRH returns from abroad.

Nizar applied to Sultan Azlan Shah for consent to dissolve the Perak state assembly. Khalid has not done so. And for all we know, even if Khalid were to do so, the Sultan in his prerogative might conceivably ask Khalid to just stay on.

BELOW: Article 55 (2) (b) of the Selangor constitution

Khalid may ask for pembubaran DUN but the Sultan in his discretion could well reply, no need (“withholding of consent to a request”).

Power of dismissal

The impatient Tommy Thomas is additionally saying that we don’t have to wait until the majority of Selangor Aduns vote against Khalid in the Dewan when the assembly sitting is next convened.

There is nothing amiss in waiting patiently. Kan orang Islam kata “sabar itu separuh dari iman”? It is perfectly within the bounds of the law for Khalid to mark time until November when the DUN is scheduled to sit.

The sultan does not have the power of dismissal (to sack the MB). It was Nizar who chose to throw the ball into the sultan’s court and the Perak ruler decided not to dissolve the state government but to remove him because Nizar himself requested the Sultan’s decision.

So why don’t Tommy wait till the Sultan of Selangor bertitah instead of rushing to pre-empt HRH?

Who is Aziz Bari to say that our state gomen is illegal?

Abdul Aziz Bari

<Quote>

“Aziz [Bari] said since Wan Azizah commanded majority support, a big question mark hangs over the legality of Khalid as menteri besar and the remaining exco members, namely the government of Selangor.

‘Khalid has a duty to clear that by allowing the house to convene as soon possible without waiting for November.

‘This is because the government has to be legal in order to endorse critical decisions which involve contracts and agreements. Going by the book the only option is for Khalid to resign.” – source here

<Unquote>

Pakatan bullies can never stop bullying

Some fellas are trying to bully Khalid Ibrahim into resigning immediately.

Let us examine whether there is any validity to what PKR politician Aziz Bari, for example, is attempting to pressure Khalid to do.

He makes conclusions and demands which can be summarized as follows:

♦ Khalid is an illegal menteri besar

♦ Khalid must convene emergency assembly sitting ASAP without waiting until November

♦ Khalid must resign

Aziz contradicts himself. If Khalid is not legally the MB (as claimed by Aziz), why bother to demand his resignation?

Just make Khalid pack his stuff and vacate the MB’s office as the sacked DAP and PKR excos were earlier made to do.

It ain’t over till the fat lady sings

Aziz claims “the game is over for Khalid” – ref. Malaysiakini article yesterday (Aug 15) ‘Game over, sultan must appoint Wan Azizah‘.

He was reported by the news portal as claiming that dissolution of the Selangor DUN is “not the option now” and quoted to say, “The law is clear, the sultan must appoint Wan Azizah to allow the state running to go back to normality”.

(In GE13, Aziz was the PKR losing candidate for the Parliament seat of Sabak Bernam – see election results below. Currently he teaches social sciences subjects at Unisel.)

Interpreting law in the interest of PKR

What we have here is Aziz Bari trying to railroad the Sultan to appoint the president of his (the PKR politician’s) party as MB by making sweeping statements on what our ruler “MUST” do.

Aziz seems to have forgotten the royal lesson to be gleaned when HRH murka Khalid Samad the other day.

“I dare say it [Khalid Ibrahim’s possible request for dissolution of the state assembly] is even against the constitution and democracy,” the PKR politikus further added, insisting that it is Wan Azizah who “must” be appointed MB immediately.

Aziz is misleading the Pakatoons, I dare say.

Abdul Khalid Ibrahim

Not so easy to dislodge an MB

Khalid’s actions are perfectly in keeping with the state constitution as well as upholding the letter of the law – and “democracy”.

Yet aside from pressing the Sultan to grant an audience to the PKR president, Aziz cast doubt on the Selangor Menteri Besar’s “credibility and honour”, contending that Khalid “did not care to show his claim to have the majority support when he met the Sultan on Aug 11”.

He ignores that Khalid is the sitting menteri besar and enjoys the confidence of incumbency. Obviously it is the challenger – Anwar’s wife – who has to furnish her proof.

BELOW: Article 53 (6) of the Selangor constitution

They can’t do anything to Khalid

The Selangor constitution stipulates that if the MB “ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly, then unless at his request His Highness dissolves the Legislative Assembly, he shall tender the resignation of the State Executive Council”.

It is actually up to Khalid to request Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah to dissolve the DUN.

Khalid asserts that he still commands the confidence of the House while Wan Azizah counters in her press conference two days ago that he does not. The Selangor MB quite correctly states that the next step is for those Aduns who have lost confidence in him to support a motion to that effect, and until such a time the motion is passed, he remains securely in his position.

Just like how Khalid does not have the power to dismiss the Speaker – it requires the Dewan to do that – similarly nobody has the power to dismiss the Menteri Besar and it requires the Dewan to do that through a vote of ‘No Confidence’.

If Khalid refuses to resign voluntarily ASAP to suit Aziz Bari’s convenience, there’s really nothing that Aziz nor his geng pembuli can do about it.

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Dear Tan Sri

An overwhelming number of us who responded to the opinion poll above are convinced that Wan Azizah fails to make the cut.

A lot of us want you to continue doing what you’ve been doing, i.e. sacked your DAP and PKR excos (good move!), plan to replace the DAP and PKR local councillors, and please have the Speaker removed too.

BELOW: Puan Speaker perasan

Hidup Selangor!

Daulat Tuanku!

Ya Tuhan peliharalah and lindungi kami daripada penganiayaan puak rakus Yahudi Yeoh!

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