It's Sultan, not Speaker who makes the final call in hung assembly - Aziz Bari

KUALA BESUT BY-ELECTION Well-known constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari has disagreed with the theory that in the event of a hung state assembly in Terengganu, the state speaker's vote would determine which coalition forms the next government.

This follows an impending by-election in the Kuala Besut state seat after the death of BN's Dr Abdul Rahman Mokhtar last week. The BN now has 16 seats while PR has 15. A win by PR in Kuala Besut would result in a hung parliament.

Many leaders from BN and PR have however opined that such a scenario is unlikely as speaker Mohd Zubir Embong could decide on who forms the state government in the event of a tie.

But Aziz, who is frequently consulted on matters related to constitutional law, pointed out that Zubir is not an elected representative and as such has no power other than enforcing the Standing Orders and the running of the state assembly.

“Appointing a government and dissolving the House are matters dealt with through constitutional provisions and not Standing Orders," Aziz told Malaysiakini.

“In any case our constitutional system, unlike in continental Europe, does not put these critical powers in the hands of the speaker - we practise the UK system, where such powers are vested in the head of state.”

As such, he said only the Sultan of Terengganu has the power to decide on the next government.

Even then, Aziz warned that the Sultan's decision could backfire on him in future since the absence of a majority in the state assembly would result in stalemates and instability.

“There is no point having a government to advise him (Sultan) if it cannot get the supply or annual budget Bill passed. The state will remain in a stalemate despite having a government. And the sultan may get the blame for putting up the wrong government," said Aziz.

- Harakahdaily