MALACCA Yang di-Pertua Negeri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam should have met opposition lawmakers before dissolving the state legislative assembly on the advice of the outgoing chief minister, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council said. 

It said in a statement that the 15 Malacca state assemblymen held the majority, and he should have met them before making any decision. 

The council noted that Ali took the decision on the advice of outgoing chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali, who has lost the right to advise the governor after he has lost his majority.

“Based on the state constitution, the chief minister has lost his power and the right to advise the governor when the four state assemblymen withdrew their support for him (Sulaiman) on Monday,” the council said. 

Four assemblymen announced on Monday that they had lost confidence in the government led by Sulaiman. 

The four are former chief minister Idris Haron (Sg Udang-BN) Nor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor-BN), Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas-Bersatu) and Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu-independent).  

PH, on the other hand, has 11 elected representatives in the state assembly, which has 28 seats in total.

The PH presidential council said the governor had made the decision based on the “wrong advice” given by Sulaiman.

“Unfortunately, the governor’s action has not only gone against the state’s own precedence whereby the advice by former chief minister Adly Zahari to dissolve the state assembly after he lost his majority was rejected but also runs counter with the Federal Court’s judgment in the Nizar Jamaluddin v Zambry Abdul Kadir case, which ruled that majority support can be determined outside of the state assembly,” it said, citing the 2009 Perak menteri besar crisis as an example.

PH also regretted that the dissolution has now paved the way for a state election, which could endanger the lives of the people as the Covid-19 epidemic has yet to be fully contained.

The statement was signed by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation president Wilfred Madius Tangau. 

Malacca legislative assembly Speaker Abd Rauf Yusoh announced yesterday that Ali has consented to the dissolution on the advice of Sulaiman. 

The state election must be held in the next 60 days.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi mooted the idea of an emergency yesterday, like what was done in Sarawak, as it is too dangerous to hold polls during the epidemic. – October 6, 2021.