Umno reps say will attend emergency assembly sitting

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Selangor Umno decided today that its state assemblymen will attend next Monday's emergency legislative assembly sitting to amend the constitution.

Selangor Umno deputy chief Datuk Noh Omar told reporters here that the party has ordered its assemblymen to attend because the Sultan has given his consent for the state sitting.

However, Noh (picture) stressed that the consent should not be misconstrued to mean that the Sultan agreed that the state's constitution should be amended.

The emergency sitting was called by Speaker Datuk Teng Chang Khim to amend Selangor’s constitution following the recent dispute over the appointment of the state secretary.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government officials had been anticipating defeat in its attempt to amend the constitution to return powers to appoint state senior civil servants following the impasse over Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi’s appointment as the new state secretary.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim 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 Khusrin’s appointment.

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 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.

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