KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — A PKR lawmaker refuted a lawyer’s claim today that the break-up of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will cripple the Selangor government, pointing out that Mentri Besar Azmin Ali still commands the support of the majority.
N. Surendran, who is also a lawyer, cited Article 53(2)(a) of the Selangor Constitution that states that an MB and the state government will remain in place as long as the mentri besar has support from the majority of the Selangor state legislative assembly.
“There is not the slightest indication that the MB has lost the support of the PKR, DAP and PAS assemblymen. On the contrary, there have been clear expressions of support from leaders of the said parties,” Surendran said in a statement.
“Indeed, in both our federal and state legislatures, governments have always been formed upon majority support of the elected reps, irrespective of whether their parties form a coalition or not. This is elementary,” the Padang Serai MP added.
News portal The Malaysian Insider reported constitutional lawyer Dr Abdul Aziz Bari as saying that the Selangor government will be crippled since the federal opposition pact has split up, pointing out that the country’s most developed state does not have a solid foundation to guide future decisions due to the lack of a common policy.
He reportedly claimed that the lack of a common policy could make Azmin vulnerable to a no-confidence vote from the Selangor legislative assembly.
The seven-year-old PR pact was thrown into uncertainty earlier this month when PAS and DAP decided to end their alliance.
But despite the fallout between the two parties, PKR has yet to choose sides, its leaders merely saying that although PR no longer formally exists, it still lives on in spirit.
No Selangor lawmaker has also called for Azmin to quit, while all three parties appear to be leery of snap elections.
