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Thursday, 6 January 2011

Appointment Of Khusrin Based On Law Not Politics, Says Sidek

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 (Bernama) -- The Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, clarified that the appointment of Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi as Selangor State Secretary is proper and legal and not based on political inputs.

The appointment was made according to provisions of the Federal Constitution, the Selangor Constitution and Promotion Board of the Civil Service Regulations 2010, with elements of consultation with the Selangor Government through the State Secretary, Datuk Ramli Mahmud.

"In this appointment, I did not take any political input and did not refer to anyone in the federal administration, including the Prime Minister.

"The exercise was carried out professionally, involving only the Chief Secretary to the Government (and the Promotions Board) and the Selangor Government," he said in a statement Wednesday.

He said there had also been consultations in appointing the state secretary for other states, whether or not under Barisan Nasional administration, including Penang.

Mohd Sidek explained in detail the process of appointing the Selangor State Secretary undertaken by the Promotion Board chaired by him.

He said the board was a legitimate authority under the Federal Constitution and an "appropriate Service Commission" under Article LII (1) of the Selangor Constitution.

Mohd Sidek said the Selangor State Secretary is from among federal public officers on the Administrative and Diplomatic Service scheme and their appointment commission is the Public Service Commission as stipulated in the Federal Constitution regarding "the general public service of the federation".

Thus, said Mohd Sidek, the allegation that the appointment of the Selangor State Secretary was by the Federal Government is not legally accurate.

Mohd Sidek made the clarification following the action of the Selangor government under Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to dispute the appointment.

Mohd Sidek also clarified that the Selangor Constitution does not make the consent of the Sultan necessary for the appointment of a state secretary. Hence, he said, the assent of the Sultan to the appointment of Mohd Khusrin was not a legal requirement but a custom.

Mohd Sidek said the Selangor Constitution does not mention any requirement for the State Government to be consulted on the appointment.

Even so, following common practice, the Public Services Department as the secretariat of the Promotion Board had forwarded the names of candidates to the Selangor government through the state secretary then as a courtesy.

He said the Director General of the Public Services Department had informed the state secretary by letter dated Nov 23 that the Chief Secretary to the Government and the PSD had identified and endorsed three candidates, including Mohd Khusrin.

He said the letter also asked for the agreement of the state government on the candidates and for their names to be forwarded to the Sultan as was the common practice.

Mohd Sidek said the PSD in a letter dated Dec 3 to the state secretary again recommended the three candidates for the post.

The names of the three candidates were then presented to the Sultan.

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