Groups want Khusrin’s appointment made void

Haris accused BN of sabotaging the Selangor administration. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — A citizens’ movement will hold a public rally next Sunday to pressure Tan Sri Sidek Hassan to annul Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi’s appointment as the new Selangor state secretary.

The Respect the Voice of the People of Selangor (HSRS) movement, comprising several non-governmental organisations, accused the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government today of sabotaging the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government by not consulting the state’s mentri besar over Khusrin’s appointment.

“Khusrin’s appointment is a culmination of the relentless attempts by the BN federal government to frustrate the Selangor administration in carrying out their policies and programmes,” HSRS chief Haris Ibrahim told reporters today.

“By denying the MB the choice of the top civil servant, the rakyat in Selangor are also denied their rights,” added Haris, a prominent blogger and civil rights activist.

But Sidek, who is the Chief Secretary to the Government, has maintained that Putrajaya’s appointment of Khusrin was legal.

He has also said the Selangor constitution did not stipulate the need for him to consult the state government when making such an appointment.

Today, former Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan claimed Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim should have been consulted as a matter of course.

“Leaving laws aside, I’d have thought common courtesy and convention dictates that surely you must consult the mentri besar when appointing the state secretary,” Ambiga said at the same news conference today.

“We cannot force one person onto another. That is not right,” added Ambiga, who is chairman of polls watchdog Bersih 2.0.

Selangor insists that it has the right to select its own state secretary and has rejected the former Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) director.

Khalid has continued to fight Khusrin’s appointment since the impasse began three weeks ago and barred the latter from attending the past two state executive council meetings.

The Selangor government plans to end the impasse by amending the state constitution to recover powers to appoint state senior civil servants.

An emergency sitting of the state assembly will be held on January 24, but Selangor BN will reportedly boycott it as the Selangor Sultan’s consent for the sitting has yet to be obtained.

Selangor Speaker Datuk Teng Chang Khim has claimed, however, that royal consent was not needed as the emergency sitting was a continuation of the previous state assembly sitting.

Today, Haris said Mohd Khusrin’s appointment violated the people’s rights to good governance.

“Now we are confronted with a situation where the mentri besar is forced to work with the state secretary, whose appointment he has no say in,” said Haris, who is the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) president.

“This is an interference with the rakyat’s choice to have good governance,” he added.

Haris said he expected 10,000 people to turn up at the rally next Sunday at the Kelana Jaya stadium.

Aside from MCLM and Bersih 2.0, the HSRS also comprises the Oppressed People’s Network (Jerit), Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (SABM), the Coalition for Good Governance (CGG), Malaysians for Beng Hock, and Growing Emerging Leaders (GEL). - Malaysian Insider