Selangor Sultan consents to special state assembly sitting on Jan 24

(The Star) – The Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, has consented to the holding of a state assembly sitting on Jan 24.

The Sultan’s private secretary, Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani, confirmed yesterday that Sultan Sharafuddin signed the proclamation on Jan 14 for the sitting to be held following a request from the state assembly legislative assembly authority, reports Bernama.

Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had before this said that the proposed assembly sitting was to amend Article 52 of the Selangor State Constitution to return the power of appointing the State Secretary, State Financial Officer and State Legal Adviser to the Sultan and Menteri Besar.

Earlier, Selangor Barisan Nasional assemblymen told the newsmen that they would boycott the emergency state assembly sitting scheduled on Jan 24 as it does not have the Sultan’s consent.

State opposition leader Datuk Mohamad Satim Diman claimed then that the sitting was invalid and chided the Pakatan Rakyat for sidelining the Sultan.

It was reported that the legislative sitting would be interesting as the Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had said the government would consider using the bipartisan resolution to achieve its intent.

The sitting is being convened to make amendments to the constitution giving the Sultan and Mentri Besar power to decide on the appointment of the secretary, financial officer and legal adviser.

Bipartisanship is a situation where two opposing political parties compromise and arrive at a common agreement with elected representatives allowed to decide based on their own conscience and not by party orders.

It is a practice used in the United States to seek common consensus between the Democrats and Republicans in the event dissent arises over the passing of bills, legislation or resolutions.

However, it will be the first time this concept is used here as it is believed to be not applicable to a parliamentary system such as Malaysia’s.