In Selangor, statewide polls likely end to MB crisis, lawyers say

(Malay Mail Online) – Selangor voters may have to face the ballot boxes again soon if the apparent deadlock in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) over Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s position as mentri besar drags on, lawyers said.

The legal experts said should the embattled second-term mentri besar continue to resist his party’s attempted ouster, the only way for PKR to remove him from the coveted post is by pushing a no-confidence motion in the state assembly.

“If the motion is passed, Khalid will have to tender his resignation together with the resignation letters from his team of executive councillors,” Syahredzan Johan explained.

But, the lawyer stressed, the mentri besar could again choose to resist the move by advising the Selangor Sultan to accede to statewide elections,” the former Bar Council constitutional law committee chief said.

Syahredzan noted, however, that pushing for a no-confidence vote against Khalid could be a risky outcome for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and, more specifically, for PKR as the party does not command the majority in the 56-seat Selangor assembly.

Collectively, PR’s three member parties control the majority of the House with 44 seats ― 15 each for DAP and PAS, and 14 for PKR.

Unfortunately for PKR, however, its attempted ouster of Khalid has not received the blessings of all its allies in the pact. For example, a faction in PAS, led by none other than the Islamist party’s president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and several other powerful leaders, has shown strong backing for Khalid.

“There is no certainty that if they push for the vote, all from DAP or PAS would back them,” Syahredzan pointed out.

Should Umno, which has a total of 12 seats in the House, choose to back Khalid in the vote by siding with PAS, a hung assembly could result in statewide polls for the country’s richest state.

Umno has already indicated plans to milk the ongoing leadership crisis to its benefit, and is even eyeing the possibility of wresting Selangor back from PR should snap polls be called.

“We are ready, we have been preparing for this…this problem (MB crisis) has gone on for far too long and affected the state,” Selangor opposition leader Datuk Shamsudin Lias told The Malay Mail Online.

The Umno leader said his party will decide whether to back Khalid in a no-confidence motion after observing whether PAS splits from its PR partners in the vote.

“When the time comes, we will decide where to place our vote or support,” he said.

DAP and PKR leaders are reportedly in agreement to remove Khalid, but last Friday, Hadi questioned the move, insisting that there were no tangible reasons to replace the embattled mentri besar.

The PAS president has since earned the support of the party’s powerful ulama council, including the wing’s acting chief Datuk Ahmad Yakob and PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi, emeritus professor of law at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), said even if Khalid’s party colleagues move the no-confidence vote against him in the assembly, the mentri besar could still curry support from Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Umno lawmakers.

“Support may come from the unlikeliest people… BN might try to back him now that PR is looking to get rid of him,” said Shad Saleem.

The buck, however, ultimately stops with the state ruler.

The Selangor Sultan could choose against consenting to statewide polls, much like what the Perak ruler did in the year-long constitutional impasse in 2009. At the time, PR lost control of the silver state when three assemblymen left their respective parties to become BN-friendly independents. The late former Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah did not opt for state elections then but upon deciding that BN commands the confidence of the assembly, consented to the appointment of a new mentri besar from Umno.

“If the (Selangor) Sultan believes that the grounds to trigger snap elections are untenable and if he feels Khalid does no longer command the majority of the legislative assembly, he could then declare the office of the mentri besar automatically void and select Khalid’s successor,” said Syahredzan.

“But PKR is biting more than they can chew with this saga… it is not as easy as they anticipated,” said Shad Saleem.

Khalid survived his own party’s abortive “Kajang Move” to oust him from the position last March, but surfacing controversies in the state have since renewed the push to have him replaced.

Among others, these include the still-unresolved row over the seizure of bibles in the state, Khalid’s perceived partiality towards the developers of the proposed Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex), and his handling of state fund that is facing mounting resistance from state residents.

A major barrier to Khalid’s removal was the absence of a clear candidate to replace him, but PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has since been nominated.

In the PR leadership council meet last week, top leaders from the three parties agreed to Dr Wan Azizah’s nomination. The matter is set to culminate in another discussion post-Hari Raya, after the PAS leadership meets on the issue.