Selangor Journal
The Melaka State Legislative Assembly during a session, in Melaka. — Picture by BERNAMA

PH: Governor should have referred to others instead of listening to ex-CM over dissolving state assembly

By Jerry Choong

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — The Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Melaka should have consulted the state constitution and met with the assemblymen who retained a majority before coming to any decision, said Pakatan Harapan’s presidential council.

Instead, the decision to dissolve the state legislature by Tun Mohd Ali Rustam based on the advice of caretaker chief minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Ali goes against precedent, as Sulaiman has already lost the support of the majority of the legislature’s assemblymen.

“Unfortunately the actions of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri has violated precedent, such as last year when then-chief minister Adly Zahari’s advice to dissolve the legislature was not accepted, despite him losing a majority of the support.

“Similarly this decision is not in line with the Federal Court’s ruling in the case of Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin and Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir, where the majority of the support can be determined outside the state assembly,” it said in a statement.

The council was referring to the 2009 Perak state constitutional crisis, in which three assemblymen from the then-Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition withdrew their support for then-Menteri Besar Nizar. This in turn led to the collapse of the state government.

In an audience with then-Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah, Nizar was denied permission to dissolve the legislature and call for state elections. As a result BN formed the new state government with the support of the three defecting assemblymen, and Pangkor assemblyman Zambry was appointed the new Menteri Besar.

Despite vocal criticism from the opposition, Zambry’s appointment was subsequently confirmed by the Federal Court in February 2010.

Similarly in March last year Adly, who is the Bukit Katil assemblyman, was ousted from office after losing the majority support. His proposal to Mohd Ali that the state assembly should be dissolved to make way for elections was rejected.

“The presidential council regrets the decision to dissolve the Melaka state assembly and pave the way for elections, seeing as how it is a risk for the people since the Covid-19 pandemic has yet to be fully controlled,” said Pakatan.

The statement was jointly made by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.

The assemblymen who withdrew their support for Sulaiman’s government include Pantai Kundur’s Datuk Nor Azman Hassan, Pengkalan Batu’s Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee, Sungai Udang’s Datuk Seri Idris Haron, and Telok Mas’ Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad.

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