PAS leader: Dissolving assembly 'pure nonsense'

Talk of dissolving the Selangor state assembly is "irresponsible" and "pure nonsense", according to PAS central working committee member Mohamed Hanipa Maidin.

He said this is because Kajang assemblyperson Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail clearly has the majority support.

Hanipa (left) added that the situation would have been different if Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim asked for the sultan’s consent to dissolve the assembly before PAS representatives Hasnul Baharuddin (Morib) and Saari Sungib (Hulu Kelang)broke ranks with their party on Aug 14 to back Wan Azizah.

Prior to that, he said the assembly was in chaos and it would have been legal for the sultan to consent to its dissolution.

"Although PAS members themselves are not fond of the two assemblypersons backing Wan Azizah as the menteri besar candidate and even labelled them as traitors, it helped Pakatan Rakyat to emerge from the uncertainty that would have warranted the sultan to dissolve the assembly.

"Perhaps these two PAS assemblypersons, who are being branded as traitors now, would be heralded as heroes by future generations," he added in a statement.

Speculation is rife that the dissolution of the Selangor state assembly is imminent, fuelled in part when Khalid asked for an audience with the sultan in Budapest, Hungary.

The sultan had turned down the request.

According to Hanipa, who is a lawyer by profession, the sultan has no choice but to appoint Wan Azizah as menteri besar since she now has the support of two-thirds of the state assembly. Doing otherwise would be illegal, he said.
 
Previously, PAS had tentatively backed Khalid as menteri besar until a party meeting on Aug 17. Until Hasnul and Saari broke ranks, Khalid and Wan Azizah had the support of 28 assemblypersons each including the Speaker Hannah Yeoh.
 
At the Aug 17 meeting, PAS decided to support Wan Azizah or PKR deputy president Azmin Ali for the top post, but at the Pakatan Rakyat meeting later that night, it was agreed that only Wan Azizah should be nominated.
 
With that, there are now 43 assemblypersons backing Wan Azizah in the 56-member assembly.
 
Separately, constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari (left) echoed that there is no need for snap elections because a new government can be formed from the current assembly.
 
“I have said, and many have agreed, that dissolution is unnecessary as there is a government available in the present house.
 
“As such there is no need to dissolve the house to pave the way for a snap election in Selangor,” he told Malaysiakini last night.