War breaks out in Selangor with the Palace pushing Umno's agenda

It looks like all-out war has broken out in Selangor, with the palace clearly aligning itself to Umno-appointee Khusrin Munawi as the state secretary, while Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has vowed to table a motion to oust him before the end of this month.

“The dice has been cast. Khalid won’t back away although Pakatan Rakyat will have to move carefully now that the Palace has shown its hand,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

The Sultan's private secretary Munir Bani, accused of blocking Khalid from meeting the Ruler, slammed the mentri besar for making “inaccurate and misleading” statements that the Sultan had agreed he had no power to accept or reject Khusrin as the state secretary.

However, Khalid refuted Munir’s accusations, placing a huge question mark on who is lying and who is telling the truth.

"The Sultan and I agree that he does not have the power to reject or appoint (the three top state civil officers) as this power was restricted by the amendment in 1993,” Khalid told a press conference this evening.

“I have also sent a letter to the chief secretary to the federal government Sidek Hassan yesterday to discuss the matter of the appointment of the state secretary because we want the matter to be resolved in order to allow the state some say in the appointment of top state administrators.”

Assembly sitting in the 4th week of January

Khalid had earlier chaired a meeting of more than 40 Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament and state assemblymen. They gave him the mandate to table a motion seeking to amend the state constitution and return the power to appoint the state secretary, finance officer and legal adviser to the Sultan and the chief minister.

This power was taken away in 1993 by the federal government in a move aimed at consolidating its hold on the state administration.

"The assembly sitting will take place by the fourth week of this month. We have three weeks to draft the amendment,” said Khalid.

If passed, the resolution which takes retrospective effect would immediately invalidate Khusrin’s January 1, 2011, appointment.

But the Palace does not appear too keen to have its rights restored. Munir insists that an assembly sitting cannot be called without the Sultan’s express approval, in direct contradiction to the stand adopted by the Speaker Teng Chang Khim.

According to Teng, Standing Order 10(3) states that the Speaker can call for an emergency state assembly meeting if he finds that the reason given by the menteri besar is "of public importance".

Palace goes all out to 'bend' the constitution

Meanwhile, Munir also insisted that an”oath of loyalty” would take place between Khusrin and the Sultan although it is specifically stated in the constitution that the state secretary has to take his oath of secrecy with the Mentri Besar, and not anyone else. Khalid has refused to recognize Khusrin’s legitimacy or accept his oath.

“As to the knowledge of the Sultan of Selangor, Mohd Khusrin has been appointed following the proper procedures sanctioned by the Selangor constitution. The new Selangor state secretary has a right to take part in the proceedings of the state committee meetings as well as the state assembly after signing an oath of secrecy in front of the Mentri Besar,” said Munir.

Political observers expressed shock at the way the row was unraveling. The Palace’s overt support for Khusrin has raised eyebrows, with many parties calling on the Sultan to stay above politics.

They referred to the 2009 Perak crisis where the Perak Sultan had colluded with the state secretary to topple the Pakatan administration led by PAS leader Nizar Jamaluddin. Rumors were rife then that Najib had offered to award a huge business deal to the Perak royal family. Just last month, Najib announced a RM36 billion MRT deal for Gamuda-MMC joint-venture. Gamuda is controlled by the Perak royal family.

“It does look like all the rumors may be true. The way in which the Palace is fighting back is most unusual unless there are strong incentives to please the Najib administration. And why is Najib so desperate to keep Khusrin in the post is starting to become very suspicious. The talk of using him to co-ordinate Rela phantom voters or even stage street protest to trigger emergency rule are become stronger by the day,” Tian said. - Malaysia Chronicle