SHAH ALAM, Jan 6 — Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim attended Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi’s oath of loyalty ceremony today, but maintained that his administration did not “recognise” the new state secretary’s appointment.
Khalid, who was flanked by Selangor exco members at the Istana Kayangan today, had previously indicated that he and members of the state government would boycott the ceremony to protest the appointment of Khusrin as state secretary, as he was not consulted over the selection.
Up until yesterday, Khalid had remained non-committal over his attendance at today’s ceremony, held in the presence of the state’s Ruler.
Today, Khalid said he has informed Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah of his administration’s bid on Monday to protest Khusrin’s appointment to the Public Services Commission (SPA).
“The state has sent a letter to the SPA informing them of our displeasure in the appointment of the new state secretary. We stress that their actions have contravened the spirit of the constitution.
“The attendance of the whole state exco for today’s ceremony... is proof of our affection and loyalty to His High Royal Highness, the Sultan of Selangor, as well as His Highness, the Selangor Regent.
“Seeing as today coincides with Datuk Mohd Khusrin’s swearing-in ceremony, it does not mean that we are willing to accept SPA’s arbitrary actions against our administration. We stand by our argument that the state secretary appointment is not final and needs a proper solution,” said Khalid today.
Apart from Khusrin, also being sworn in are the new head of the Selangor Islamic Religious department (Jais) Datuk Marzuki Hussin, 56, together with former state secretary Datuk Ramli Mahmud and Selangor police chief Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah, who will both be appointed as a members of the Selangor Royal Council.
Khusrin, aside from his oath as state secretary, will also take a separate oath to become a member of the Selangor Royal Council.
Among the Selangor exco members who were present today were Teresa Kok, Yaakob Sapari, Halimah Ali, Roziah Ismail, Dr Xavier Jeyakumar and Ean Yong Hian Wah.
Khalid, who was seated in the same row as Khusrin, shook hands with the latter before the ceremony began.
It is understood that the Selangor Sultan will be giving a speech shortly. His private secretary, Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani, will also be holding a press conference later to respond to Khalid’s remarks yesterday.
Mohamad Munir has challenged Khalid’s version of events from the latter’s audience with the Sultan on Monday, in which the mentri besar said the state ruler had acknowledged he has no power over senior civil service appointments.
Munir had said that the Sultan held the executive power and, therefore, had the right to decide on Khusrin’s appointment as the new Selangor state secretary.
Khalid, however, maintained that Munir’s remarks were “personal” opinions and did not reflect the Selangor Sultan’s views on the matter.
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