PN to notify Dewan Rakyat speaker opposition leader’s post vacant

Perikatan Nasional chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar says a letter will be submitted tomorrow, with a new appointment expected before the June parliamentary meeting.

PN chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said he has instructed secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan to prepare the letter informing the Dewan Rakyat speaker that the opposition leader’s post is vacant. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 Perikatan Nasional will submit a formal notification to the Dewan Rakyat speaker on the vacancy of the opposition leader’s post following Hamzah Zainudin’s apparent resignation.

PN chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said he has instructed the coalition’s secretary-general, Takiyuddin Hassan, to prepare the letter.

“Since today is an off day, the notification letter on the vacancy of the opposition leader’s post will be submitted tomorrow,” he told reporters after an Aidilfitri event hosted by Johor PAS.

Samsuri was asked to comment on rumours that Hamzah had submitted his resignation letter as the opposition leader to the PN leadership. He did not confirm or deny the matter.

Instead, he said, PN would proceed with formal procedures to notify the speaker that the position is vacant.

“Once we submit the letter stating that the position is vacant, it takes effect automatically. Hamzah will no longer be the opposition leader,” the Kemaman MP said.

Hamzah’s position as the opposition leader has been in limbo since his expulsion from Bersatu on Feb 13, at the height of an internal leadership tussle with party president Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Larut MP previously said he was prepared to step down if a majority of PN’s MPs wanted him to relinquish the post.

PAS said PN’s component parties had agreed to the party taking over the opposition leader’s role.

Samsuri reiterated that the new opposition leader will be named before the next Dewan Rakyat meeting in June.

“Parliament is not in session right now. We are operating within the capacities of the existing parties under the PN coalition, and this requires certain strategies,” he said. - FMT