Khalid has been SACKED, his administration tainted with ILLEGALITY - Surendran warns

Khalid Ibrahim has declared his intention to cling on as MB of Selangor until the state assembly sits in November. This is despite the fact that Dr Wan Azizah has produced clear and unambigous proof that 30 assemblyman have withdrawn support from Khalid.

Under Article 53(6) of the state constitution, having lost the confidence of the majority of assemblyman, Khalid 'shall tender [his] resignation' to the Ruler. What is the effect of Khalid's refusal to do so?

The law governing this is found in the state constitution read together with the decision of the Federal Court in Nizar v Zambry (2010). In that case, Chief Justice Ariffin Zakaria in his judgement said , ' ...if the MB refuses to tender the resignation of the exco under article XVI(6), the MB and the exco members are deemed to have vacated their respective offices.' ( Article XVI(6) of the Perak constitution is exactly the same as Article 53(6) of the Selangor constitution.)

Thus, the refusal of an MB to resign his position when the requirements of Article 53(6) are satisfied, will result in him being deemed to have vacated the office of MB.

Like it or not, he's no longer MB

This means that when Dr Wan Azizah on 14th August proved that Khalid had lost the support of the majority, Article 53(6) became operative. Khalid Ibrahim has publicly refused to tender his resignation, but this does not save him. He can now be deemed to have vacated his office.

In effect, this means that Khalid can no longer exercise the usual executive powers of an MB. It is not business as usual. Any acts or policy decisions purported to be done by Khalid, including entering into contracts and other commercial dealings, may be tainted with illegality.

This lends a real urgency to the call for Khalid to step down inmmediately.

With a clear majority for Dr Wan Azizah, there is not the slightest reason for a dissolution of the assembly. Khalid must uphold his oath to 'preserve, protect and defend' the Selangor Constitution, and quit now.

N SURENDRAN IS VICE PRESIDENT, KEADILAN & MP PADANG SERAI