Law lecturer: PKR president has to convince the Sultan

(The Star) – The assertion that she now has majority support must be proven before the Sultan, who must be satisfied that this is really the case.

Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail must convince the Sultan of Selangor that she has the majority support from the state assembly as it is the Ruler who has the authority to decide on the matter, said International Islamic University law lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Shamrahayu A. Aziz.

He said the PKR president’s act of declaring that she had 30 lawmakers on her side might be a “morally correct” move on her part to establish that she had a majority.

However, it was still not enough to legally prove her case, he said.

“This is because the assertion that she now has majority support must be proven before the Sultan, who must be satisfied that this is really the case.

“Before things can proceed, it must be acceptable and agreeable to the Sultan that Dr Wan Azizah has the support of the majority,” said Dr Shamrahayu.

He said that establishing Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had lost his majority could be done not only via a motion of no-confidence in the state assembly but also by proving to the Ruler.

An example of how this was done is if the Sultan consented to granting an audience to the state assemblymen to ascertain who they supported.

Dr Shamrahayu said that if the Sultan was satisfied that Khalid had lost his majority, he could appoint a new mentri besar whom he feels commands the majority at the state assembly.