DECEMBER 29 — Under Article 39(2)(a) of the Laws of the Constitution of Perlis (LN 5 of 1959) (State Constitution), the Menteri Besar shall be appointed by the Ruler who in His Majesty’s judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Legislative Assembly (LA).
The majority is eight out of 15 Assembly persons (Aduns).
Given that the Speaker of the LA had reportedly said on Thursday (December 25) that he was satisfied that the circumstances under Article 50A(1)(a)(ii) of the State Constitution had been met, confirming that the seats for Chuping, Bintong and Guar Sanji had fallen vacant, the number of seats in the LA had fallen to 12.
Accordingly, the majority is seven out of 12 Aduns.
That is the majority Kuala Perlis assemblyman Abu Bakar Hamzah must have when he was sworn in as the new Menteri Besar (MB) of Perlis at Istana Arau on Sunday (December 28).
Abu Bakar is Perlis Perikatan Nasional (PN) deputy chairman and State Bersatu Chief. He is one of five Bersatu Aduns.
PAS holds six seats, the seats of Chuping, Bintong and Guar Sanji having fallen vacant. Pakatan Harapan (PH) holds the other one seat.
The legal issue is where does the majority of seven for Abu Bakar to be sworn in as MB come from?
Even if Abu Bakar had the confidence of the lone PH Adun, he still needed the confidence of another Adun for the majority of seven.
Who among the six Pas Aduns made up the majority?
Did or did not the three seats of Chuping, Bintong and Guar Sanji fall vacant when Abu Bakar was sworn in as MB?
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
