Law expert: Sultan needs to call state polls in Selangor

Constitutional expert Prof Abdul Aziz Bari said today it will be difficult for Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah to appoint a new menteri besar for the state on grounds that incumbent Khalid Ibrahim has been accused of integrity issues by his own party members.

Aziz (left) said the sultan risks being accused of “favouring” one of the conflicting parties if he chooses to exercise his discretion to appoint a new government, and thus a state election would be the best way to resolve the problem.

“It is just difficult for the sultan to appoint a new menteri besar in this scenario. It is difficult to see who is having majority support in the House.

“Even PKR seems to be divided, given that the Azmin (Ali) faction has yet to give their support (to Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail),” the law professor added.

“The better way is to let the people decide through an election in the state.”

Khalid appears to be 'losing his grip by the day'

Aziz said the people in Selangor desperately needed someone “in charge” and Khalid appeared to be “losing his grip by the day”.

“It is the sultan’s duty to end this stalemate and this can only be done by him allowing the people to decide,” he added.

Aziz said the sultan could either ask Khalid to produce a letter requesting for a state assembly dissolution or, if Khalid remained adamant, the sultan could dissolve the House on his own.

“It is incumbent on the sultan to make the constitutional process work,” he said.

Aziz explained that it is not arbitrary for the sultan to dissolve the state assembly without a request from the menteri besar.

“It is true that in an ordinary situation, the sultan needs a request before he can dissolve the House. But if the sitting government refuses to do so and the situation gets worse, the sultan must act to save the state from deteriorating into further confusion and uncertainty,” he said.

“As of now the only way to have a government that commands the majority is through a general election.”

Aziz said that Khalid, the only person who could make a request for the dissolution of the state assembly, did not seem to be ready to do it, and this would lead to further problems in Selangor.

“Here comes the duty of the sultan to remove the clog. Admittedly, it is drastic and unprecedented. But this seems the only way.

“One needs to remember the Perak crisis of 2009, where the refusal to dissolve the House eventually dragged the palace into the mud as it denied the rakyat a say on the critical matter,” he added.