Palace should explain Ahmad's appointment
Malaysiakini.com
Mar 25, 2008

The Terengganu palace caught in the heart of the mentri besar selection crisis can calm the situation by explaining its decision,  PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali said today. MCPX

syed husin aliIn a statement, Syed Husin said the voice of the people and the majority of the elected members of the state assembly must be respected, irrespective of who and which party possesses the majority.

“The palace should not place any obstruction, unless there are strong reasons such as that the candidate proposed by the majority of the state assemblymen for the MB cannot be accepted,” he said.

On such grounds, Syed Husin pointed out that it was desirable for the palace to justify why it picked Kijal assemblyperson Ahmad Said over Umno-backed Idris Jusoh,

“The reasons may be related to the person (such as morals and corruption) or the consideration that he can cause damage to the people or the state if elected.

“In this situation, it is desirable that the palace provides an explanation for its contrary decision, in order to calm the situation,” he said.

The controversial tussle over the oil-rich east coast state reached its pinnacle this morning when Ahmad began his new role as Terengganu MB.

Boycott by BN reps

In the past week, 22 Barisan Nasional state assemblypersons backed Idris for the post, called for a boycott against the swearing-in ceremony and submitted a protest letter to the palace against the appointment of Ahmad.

abdullah ahmad badawi and idris jusoh and ahmad said and terengganuIdris and the 22 state representatives also met up with Abdullah over the weekend to discuss the matter while the state Umno threatened to sack Ahmad if he assumed the post.

The party’s disciplinary committee is expected to meet to discuss the matter on Thursday.

However, it is also reliably learnt that about 13 of the state representatives are now backing Ahmad.

It has been speculated that Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu - who is also the present Agong - preferred Ahmad to take over as the state’s menteri besar. Idris is believed to have had a fallout with the sultan over several issues.

It is learnt that Ahmad also had the support of the grassroots Umno leaders and members. Sources say that he had the support of seven out of eight Umno divisions in Terengganu.

Double standards

Syed Husin also criticised Umno for practicing double standards for not ticking off its own members for going against the Sultan Mirzan’s decision to select Ahmad over Idris.

“Why does the Umno leadership refuse to lift a finger to stop the state assemblypersons from planning to boycott the Terengganu ceremony?

“Is Umno free to do things that opposition parties are forbidden to? Umno should never practice double standards in matters such as this,” he said.

The PKR leader was referring to DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang who directed members of his party to boycott the swearing-in ceremony of the Perak MB Mohamad Nizar Jamaludin from PAS two weeks ago.

The Ipoh Timor parliamentarian received backlash over his decision especially from Umno who accused him of treason. Lim has since apologised over the matter.

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