Shahidan asks House to clarify Perlis constitution on MB appointment

PARLIAMENT | The Perlis menteri besar crisis after the 14th general election has now crossed over to the federal level after Shahidan Kassim (BN-Arau) asked Parliament to clarify a specific clause in the Perlis state constitution.

The clause he would like clarified is Article 39(4) of the Perlis state constitution, which states that “in appraising menteri besar, the ruler may in his discretion dispense with any provision in this constitution restricting his choice of a menteri besar, if in his opinion it is necessary to do so in order to comply with the provisions of this Article”.

This is because, Shahidan said, of Article 39(2) of the same constitution, which states that the ruler shall appoint as menteri besar someone “who in his judgement is likely to command the confidence of the majority of assemblypersons”.

“We cannot read Article 39(4) by itself (which states) the ruler can appoint whoever he likes.

“If we read it by itself, we do not need Article 39(2) which states that the menteri besar needs to be picked based on majority (support), and we do not need a general election.

“Just appoint whoever,” Shahidan, who is the former Perlis Umno chief, said during his debate on the motion of thanking Agong's speech at the Dewan Rakyat today.

On May 24, nine BN assemblypersons boycotted the appointment of Azlan Man as the Perlis menteri besar, saying he did not command the support of the majority, despite his appointment being greenlit by the state ruler.

Shahidan said in the House today it is clear Azlan’s appointment as menteri besar does not have the confidence of a majority of the state assembly as eight have lodged a police report against this appointment.

“All Malaysian citizens including lawmakers have to abide by the law and an assemblyperson or MP was chosen by the rakyat, and whether they are a father or child, mother or child, brother or sister, they cannot be said to be a potential puppet,” he said.

While a state constitution is independent of the Federal Constitution, Shahidan brought up Article 71(4) of the Federal Constitution to justify asking the Parliament to clarify the Perlis state constitution clause he brought up.

Article 71(4) of the Federal Constitution states that if any state constitution does not contain provisions set out in Part I of the Eighth Schedule, the Parliament may “by law make provision for giving effect in that state to the essential provisions or for removing the inconsistent provisions”.

The Eighth Schedule deals with provisions to be inserted in state constitutions, and Part I of the Schedule states that the ruler shall act in accordance with the advice of the state’s executive council, except as otherwise provided by the federal or state constitution.

Shahidan compared the Perlis state constitution to Article 43(2) of the Federal Constitution, which says the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall appoint as prime minister someone who in his judgement is likely to command the majority confidence of MPs.

“Perlis abided by the Eighth Schedule of the Federal Constitution through Article 39 of the state constitution, which is similar to Article 43 of the Federal Constitution,” he said.

At the same time, however, Article 39(4) of the state constitution provides for the ruler to set aside any other provision in the constitution to appoint a menteri besar at his discretion, Shahidan said.

“In my opinion, this matter should be read together with Article 39(2), so even though the ruler can appoint whoever he likes, it cannot run from the principle of a majority support from the assemblypersons,” he explained.

As such, Shahidan believes there is a flaw in the Perlis state constitution with regards to the interpretation of Article 39(4).

“I am not disputing any rulers, but I am merely asking Parliament to clarify on this matter,” he told reporters after he left the Dewan Rakyat. - Mkini