COMMENT It would have been better if the announcement had come from the Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali himself.

He heads the ruling coalition in the state and if it was he who had formulated the stance and highlighted it, matters would have been clearer.

Even without that, the stand enunciated by PKR parliamentary whip Johari Abdul that DAP state assembly representatives in Selangor can vote their conscience on matters of public interest is a great help towards alleviating tensions between the two parties as a result of the contretemps in the Penang legislature last week.