Khalid dares Selangor lawmakers to table no-confidence vote against him

(TMI) – An embattled Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim today dared Selangor assemblymen to put a no-confidence vote in the state assembly against his leadership as menteri besar.

His party PKR and its allies DAP and PAS have agreed to replace him as the menteri besar but have not reached consensus on the replacement.

“It is possible, I feel, that in the assembly rules, for a party or state assemblymen as a group to ask the Speaker to table a motion in the assembly,” he told reporters in Kajang today.

Khalid has already said that he wants to complete his second term in office.

He said if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) wishes to remove him, they would have to go through proper procedures.

Reminding PR state leaders that he had been appointed by the Sultan of Selangor, Khalid said: “As I have said before, I will abide by the enactments that the Selangor state government must follow, because there are a few procedures that must be adhered to.

“Secondly, when I was appointed, I was also requested to swear-in as the Menteri Besar of Selangor,” he said.

Constitutional lawyers told The Malaysian Insider yesterday that a snap election is possible if Khalid is defeated in a no-confidence vote in the state legislative assembly for defying his party’s move to replace him.

They said the Sultan of Selangor could use his royal prerogative if Khalid made a request to the ruler to dissolve the assembly based on provisions in the state constitution and legal procedure.

Khalid has been facing mounting pressure from PR leadership to resign over his handling of Selangor affairs.

This included the state’s management of its water resources, the Kidex highway and the seizure of Bahasa Malaysia and Iban-language Bibles by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais).

The PKR supreme council on Monday endorsed Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the new Selangor menteri besar, completing the “Kajang move” to replace Khalid.

PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Dr Wan Azizah’s name has been proposed and he believed that she could ensure stability for both PKR and PR.

All PR needs to remove Khalid after the supreme council endorses the decision is a simple majority vote in the state assembly to oust Khalid, if he refuses to resign.

PR – comprising of PKR, PAS and DAP – has 44 seats in the assembly while the opposition Barisan Nasional (BN) make up the remaining 12 seats.

PAS and DAP each has 15 seats while PKR has 14.