Dr Wan Azizah never had the majority after all
Maybe the legal fraternity did not know of the 15 who turned or maybe they do know but are not telling us because they think we did not know. Whatever it may be Azmin did have the majority and he is, therefore, constitutionally the legal MB of Selangor.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Free Malaysia Today has finally revealed what many of us had known for the last two months (READ HERE). And that is party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail did not have the 30 votes that PKR claims she had. She had only 15 votes.
In August, PKR held a press conference to reveal that Dr Wan Azizah had 29 letters in her hands — 15 from DAP, 12 from PKR and two from PAS. That makes 29, and including Dr Wan Azizah’s own ‘vote’ that makes 30 out of the 56 representatives in the Selangor State Assembly a.k.a. ADUNs.
But this was a not a vote of no confidence against sitting MB Khalid Ibrahim in the real sense of the word as much as it was a vote of confidence for Dr Wan Azizah. A vote of no confidence cannot be done via SDs but has to be done in the state assembly. Nevertheless it can still be taken as an unofficial or informal vote of no confidence against Khalid.
And with that Khalid had an audience with HRH the Sultan to request the Sultan’s consent to resign from his post of MB. All HRH had to do was to consent to Khalid’s request and Selangor would have had a new MB on that day.
But the Sultan did not give his consent on that day because HRH was informed that the 15 DAP and 12 PKR representatives were coerced into signing their SDs or signed under duress. Only the two PAS representatives volunteered to sign their SDs and signed willingly.
A month later, five new SDs emerged (SEE THE FMT REPORT) that basically cancelled the earlier SDs. That brought Dr Wan Azizah’s ‘support’ down to 25 and she needed at least 29 to command a majority.
It seems the Sultan was also told that these five are supporting Azmin Ali for MB and that another ten representatives, although they did not sign any SDs yet, will also support Azmin Ali if a vote was taken in the state assembly.
Since only 14 are supporting Dr Wan Azizah while 28 (including 13 from PAS) support Azmin, even if the 12 Umno representatives abstain, that would give Azmin the majority. And while Umno may not officially vote for Azmin, they did say they would support whatever decision HRH makes in this matter. So, indirectly, the 12 Umno representatives also vote for Azmin (if that is the Sultan’s choice) giving him 40 votes (if Khalid abstains).
And that was why HRH took his time in appointing Khalid’s successor. HRH needed to know if Dr Wan Azizah really had the 30 votes that PKR claims she had. From what was revealed she only had 14 votes (15 including her own vote) while Azmin also had 15. And with the 13 from PAS and 12 from Umno who will support whatever decision the Sultan makes, Azmin and not Wan Azizah should become the MB.
The legal fraternity screamed that HRH did not follow the Constitution in appointing Azmin as the MB. But that is just it. HRH did. The person who HRH must appoint as MB is the person who commands the confidence of the majority in the House. And it was very clear that Azmin and not Dr Wan Azizah commanded this majority. So HRH followed the Constitution to the letter.
Maybe the legal fraternity did not know of the 15 who turned or maybe they do know but are not telling us because they think we did not know. Whatever it may be Azmin did have the majority and he is, therefore, constitutionally the legal MB of Selangor.
I have only one thing to say to Azmin — brilliant! And did I not say back in 2009 that if you want a politician as the MB then Azmin should be made the MB. Yes, I did write back in 2009 that Azmin should be made the MB of Selangor if you want a seasoned politician to head Selangor. I just wonder why many people got upset when I said that five years ago.
