Chief Sec: Selangor govt was informed
(The Sun Daily) – The federal authorities had informed the Selangor government about three preferred candidates for state secretary, said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan who broke his silence on the controversy over the appointment in a statement this evening.
This refutes the state government’s contention that the appointment of Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi was done without consultation with Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
Mohd Sidek said while the State Enactment did not require that the state government be consulted on the appointment of the state secretary, as a matter of courtesy, the Public Services Department (PSD) which is the secretariat for the Public Service Promotions Board, had sent the proposed names to outgoing State Secretary Datuk Ramli Mahmud. He said Ramli was informed of the matter through two letters dated Nov 23 and Dec 3 last year.
These letters were signed by PSD director-general Datuk Seri Abu Bakar Abdullah and PSD senior deputy director (services) Datuk Jalil Marzuki respectively.
The candidates (in order of preference) were (former Selangor Islamic religious department head) Mohd Khusrin; Subang Jaya Municipal Council president Datuk Adnan Md Ikshan and Selangor deputy state secretary (development) Datuk Noordin Sulaiman.
“These recommendations were based on their qualifications, experience, personal traits and eligibility,” Mohd Sidek said.
He said Ramli, through a letter to Jalil dated Dec 13, stated that the proposed names had been submitted to Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, who in turn had consented to Khusrin as the new state secretary, effective either Dec 17 or Dec 20.
Copies of these letters were made available to the media.
“It is not a legal requirement but a matter of courtesy that the sultan’s consent is sought for the appointment of state secretary but the appointment is made by the Public Service Promotions Board.”
“In the midst of this appointment process, I did not take any political input and did not refer to any member of the federal administration, including the prime minister,” he said.
Mohd Sidek added that the process of appointing state secretaries is the same in all states irrespective of whether they are ruled by Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. He also indicated that there was no controversy over the appointment of the Penang state secretary which was also a federal appointment.
