Teng says late draft delivery due to time constraints

SHAH ALAM, Jan 21 — Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Khim today told Umno not to politicise the state assembly’s failure to distribute the draft of the proposed amendments to the Selangor constitution, claiming it was due to time constraints.

Teng also pointed out that pursuant to the House’s Standing Order 10(3), the documents could be distributed to assemblymen on the day of the assembly sitting itself, before the meeting convenes.

“I hope this will not be turned into an issue. Also, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has already made an announcement on the amendments and all newspapers have already carried the reports.

“So the information has been disseminated and there is no hidden agenda here,” he told a press conference at his office this afternoon.

Teng (picture) said assembly officials had only received the draft copies of the amendments on Wednesday and were working on a very short notice to prepare them in time for Monday’s emergency sitting.

“I was also informed by my assembly secretary this morning that all state assemblymen have been told to obtain copies of the amendments and the Order Paper today,” he said.

He urged all parties to give their co-operation to ensure that the documents would reach them on time.

“But despite this, if we follow Standing Order 10(3), the documents can be given to the assemblymen before the meeting convenes... it can be given to them on the same day of the sitting,” he said.

At a press conference yesterday, Selangor Umno deputy chief Datuk Noh Omar complained that the Selangor assembly officials had failed to deliver the draft of the constitution amendments to state Opposition Leader Datuk Mohamad Satim Diman.

He noted that Satim had officially requested for the draft but had failed to get a response.

“Where is the transparency of the state government? They claim that the amendments to the constitution are for the interest of the public. If this is really for public interest then they should give the draft to BN assemblymen,” Noh had said.

He had also said that the amendments would be “ultra vires” or contravene sections 74 to 79 (distribution of legislative powers between the federal government and the states) in the Federal Constitution.

“The Public Service Commission has always been responsible for the appointments in the federated states (Selangor, Perak, Negri Sembilan and Pahang) because they do not have their own state commission. Therefore the amendments will be ultra vires the Federal Constitution,” he said.

Khalid had said the January 24 state assembly sitting was aimed at spreading awareness that the Selangor Sultan’s and the mentri besar’s powers to appoint the state secretary had been robbed by the federal government.

However, Noh had claimed that the Chief Secretary to the Government had always sought royal consent before appointing the state secretary.

Noh also stressed that Khalid was defying the Sultan by rejecting the Ruler’s blessing of Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi’s appointment as the new state secretary.

Pakatan Rakyat, which holds 35 seats in the 56-seat assembly, is three seats shy of a two-thirds majority necessary to amend the constitution.

Selangor Barisan Nasional lawmakers have been told to attend Monday’s sitting but it is believed that they will vote against the amendments.

BN is now one-member short from its original 21-member hold in the House following Teng’s declaration on Wednesday that the Port Klang seat, held by Umno’s Badrul Hisham Abdullah, has been vacant since January 16 this year.

Selangor has been locked in a tussle with Putrajaya since Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan named Khusrin to the state’s top civil officer post on December 27.

The state has insisted that it can choose its own state secretary and has rejected the former Selangor Islamic Religious Department director.

Putrajaya insists that the federal Public Service Commission has the right to appoint the state’s top civil servant.

Sidek has said the Selangor constitution did not require him to consult the state government when making such an appointment.

Selangor’s proposed amendments to section 52 of the state constitution, which covers the appointments of the state secretary, state legal adviser and state financial officer, are expected to mirror the version that existed prior to the 1993 amendments. - Malaysian Insider