THE SELANGOR MB CRISIS IN PERSPECTIVE

The 30 SDs may carry some weight in proposing Dr Wan Azizah as the new MB. However, they carry no weight in the removal of Khalid as the MB. Khalid will have to be removed as MB not by the 30 SDs but by a majority vote of no confidence in the Selangor State Assembly.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has not resigned from his post. What has happened is Khalid has had an audience with His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor to request that he be allowed to resign his post.

HRH the Sultan of Selangor has not yet consented to Khalid’s resignation. What has happened is HRH has asked Khalid to hold on first to his resignation until the issue of his successor has been settled.

According to the Selangor State Constitution, the Sultan shall act on the advice of the Menteri Besar and not the other way around. The word ‘shall’ has been interpreted as ‘mandatory’ and also as ‘not mandatory’, depending on the current usage of the English language as opposed to when the Constitution was first written.

[Linguists have argued that the meaning of the word ‘shall’ changes depending on its usage such as “you shall fetch me at four!” (instruction), “shall I fetch you at four?” (question), “I shall fetch you at four” (promise), and “I shall see if four is possible” (non-committal)].

Nevertheless, whether ‘shall’ is considered mandatory or not mandatory, the fact remains it is the Menteri Besar who advises the Sultan and not the party leader, EXCO members, ADUNs (State Assemblypersons), or some other person who is not the Menteri Besar.

Hence it is what Khalid Ibrahim advises the Sultan that matters and not the advice of Anwar Ibrahim, the EXCO members, the ADUNs, the party, etc.

And the word ‘advice’ is also open to interpretation. Advice can be a suggestion or it can be a command/order depending on the usage of the word and the circumstances in which it is used.

In the days of the British colonial administration, ‘strong’ British Advisers have used ‘advice’ as an instruction when the Sultan was ‘weak’ but if the Sultan was strong-willed he would take the advice of the British Adviser as merely a suggestion with the prerogative of the Sultan whether to listen to this advice or not.

Hence the British would choose either diplomacy or gunboat diplomacy depending on the situation at that time such as which British Adviser was dealing with which Sultan and British Advisers such as Birch who ‘kurang ajar’ were eventually dealt with at the point of the keris.

Pakatan Rakyat is not a legal entity, unlike Barisan Nasional, but merely a loose coalition. Hence HRH the Sultan does not need to deal with Pakatan Rakyat. Instead, HRH can choose to deal with PKR, DAP and PAS individually.

Anwar Ibrahim is not the elected leader of PKR. Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is while Anwar is merely the de facto leader and hence does not have locus standi in the party. In fact, PKR’s party constitution does not even have a provision for an unelected de facto leader.

Anwar Ibrahim is the Opposition Leader in Parliament and a Member of Parliament for Penang. He is not a PKR Selangor leader or a Selangor ADUN. Hence Anwar is a non-entity in Selangor and HRH the Sultan need not give him the time of day.

Pakatan Rakyat says it has Statutory Declarations signed by 30 of the 56 ADUNs that support Dr Wan Azizah as the new MB. That may be true but Khalid Ibrahim is still the MB and unless the post of MB is vacant then the 30 SDs do not mean a thing to HRH the Sultan.

The 30 SDs may carry some weight in proposing Dr Wan Azizah as the new MB. However, they carry no weight in the removal of Khalid as the MB. Khalid will have to be removed as MB not by the 30 SDs but by a majority vote of no confidence in the Selangor State Assembly.

The Selangor State Constitution is vague regarding the powers of the Sultan in the appointment of the MB other than saying it is the Sultan’s prerogative to appoint an MB who in HRH’s judgement will most likely command the confidence of the majority of the house.

The words ‘judgement’, ‘most likely’, and ‘confidence’ are subjective and open to interpretation and it is up to the Sultan to determine what these words mean.

For example, if the Sultan were to personally speak to the 30 ADUNs who signed those SDs and four of them say they were forced to sign those SDs and do not really support Dr Wan Azizah as MB, then HRH can take that as only 26 of 56 ADUNs support her and hence there is no majority.

On the other hand, if HRH the Sultan were to personally speak to the 56 Selangor ADUNs and 30 say they support Azmin Ali as the new MB, then HRH can use his ‘judgement’ to declare that Azmin will ‘most likely’ command the ‘confidence’ of the majority of the House and according to the Selangor Constitution appoint Azmin as the new MB.

Oh, and the SDs say 30 ADUNs support Dr Wan Azizah as the new MB. But the 30 SDs do not say they do not support Azmin as the alternative MB to Dr Wan Azizah. Hence if Azmin is appointed the new MB and if at least 29 of the 56 ADUNs do not support him, then they will need to pass a vote of no confidence against him in the Selangor State Assembly.

Interesting, is it not?