Selangor fails to change state law

SHAH ALAM, Jan 24 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) failed to amend the Selangor constitution over the appointment of top civil servants when it did not garner the required two-thirds majority in the state assembly today.

All 34 PR assemblymen voted in favour of the amendment to Article 52(1) of the state constitution while the 20 Barisan Nasional (BN) representatives present opposed it. The coalition needed 38 votes to pass the amendments.

Speaker Datuk Teng Chang Khim did not exercise his vote while Umno’s Port Klang assemblyman Badrul Hisham Abdullah was not allowed in the assembly hall as his seat had been declared vacant by Teng earlier this week.

“There will be no second and third reading of the bill because two-thirds of [votes] was not obtained,” Tend said outside the assembly today.

If passed, the amendment would have allowed the Sultan — under the mentri besar's counsel — to appoint the state secretary, legal advisor and financial officer instead of the federally-controlled Public Services Commission.

The issue first came to light when the state opposed Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi’s appointment as state secretary, arguing that Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim was not informed of the appointment and it was thus invalid.

Khalid said today that his administration would work harder in obtaining a two-thirds majority in the next state-level elections, and would continue to push for the same amendment in the near future.

Teng denied that today’s sitting was an exercise in futility, maintaining that the session was called to address a matter of great public importance.

Earlier, Khalid also said the state was considering allowing Khusrin to carry out his official duties as state secretary.

In response, state opposition leader Datuk Satim Diman said that Khalid’s decision was a “U-turn” and that the MB was “caught in his own political game.”

“Khalid knew we (Barisan Nasional) would not support these amendments, so now he is U-turning.

“If you are sincere, work hard and fast and get Khusrin to take the oath of secrecy,” Satim told reporters shortly after the sitting ended.