Lawyer questions validity of Negeri Sembilan exco statement

 Rosli Dahlan asks if menteri besar Ismail Lasim had endorsed the statement purportedly announcing the removal of the state's ruler.

Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Ismail Lasim’s executive council comprises 10 members, eight of whom are from Umno. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

A lawyer has questioned the validity of a statement purportedly issued by the Negeri Sembilan executive council declaring the removal of Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir as the state’s ruler.

Rosli Dahlan questioned whether menteri besar Ismail Lasim had endorsed the statement issued this afternoon, pointing out that it was simply signed off as “the lineup of Negeri Sembilan executive council members”.

“Can an exco resolution be made without the endorsement of the menteri besar?

“Exco decisions and resolutions are supposed to be announced by the menteri besar as the head of the exco. So can the exco issue such a statement without the menteri besar?

“And who authorised the issuance of that statement?” he asked in a statement.

The statement in question had been posted on social media by several members of the Negeri Sembilan exco, all of whom are from Barisan Nasional, including Linggi assemblyman Faizal Ramli, Lenggeng assemblyman Asna Amin, Palong assemblyman Mustapha Nagoor and Chennah assemblyman Siow Kong Choon.

Perikatan Nasional’s two representatives in the exco, Fairuz Isa (Serting) and Razali Abu Samah (Sikamat), did not republish the statement.

Ismail’s office has yet to confirm the statement.

According to the statement, the exco had agreed that Tuanku Muhriz’s removal as Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan in April was legitimate, and that Tuanku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Ja’afar was therefore the new ruler.

This comes two days after the Negeri Sembilan Dewan Keadilan dan Undang maintained that Tuanku Muhriz remains the state’s ruler and that the latest attempt to remove him earlier this month was invalid. - FMT