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Thursday, July 4, 2013

No casting vote for Terengganu Speaker

The state constitution does not give him that right because he was not elected, says PKR's Azan Ismail.
PETALING JAYA: PKR today debunked an Umno statement that a Pakatan Rakyat win in the Kuala Besut by-election will not result in a hung Terengganu state assembly because the speaker has a casting vote.
“The Terengganu state constitution allows the casting vote for the speaker only if he is an elected representative,” said Terengganu PKR chief Azan Ismail in reaction to Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan’s statement last weekend.
Terengganu speaker Zubir Embong is not a state assemblyman. He ran for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat in the recent general election but lost to PAS’s Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Ahmad.
With the death of Kuala Besut representative Abdul Rahman Mokhtar last month, BN is left with 16 of the 32 seats in the state assembly. Pakatan holds 15.
“If Pakatan wins Kuala Besut, it will not turn out to be a hung state assembly; the speaker could make it 17-16 to keep BN in power,” Ahmad was quoted as saying on Sunday.
That view has been supported by Terengganu MCA chief Toh Chin Yaw as well as PKR vice president Tian Chua.
Azan said the clarity of the state constitution regarding the issue made Ahmad’s statement irrelevant.
“Zubir is not an elected state assemblyman. If we win the Kuala Besut seat, there will be a hung state assembly in Terengganu,” he said.
Azan urged Zubir to be professional in his conduct in the event of a hung assembly.
“If Zubir is not neutral, he may have to face a vote of no-confidence from us,” said the state assemblyman for Bandar.
Azan also said Pakatan would leave it to the Sultan of Terengganu to decide which coalition should rule the state in the event of a hung assembly. “We will accept whatever he says.”
Civil rights lawyer Syahredzan Johan agreed with Azan’s reading of the state constitution.
“Only elected representatives can vote,” he said. “So a speaker who is not a representative cannot.”
Constitutional expert Shad Saleem Faruqi said: “Generally all speakers have casting votes, but it depends on the state constitution. We need to check on that.”

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