The existing Negri Sembilan government will continue to be valid after the state legislative assembly dissolves automatically on Tuesday, Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan said today.      

He said that under the system of parliamentary democracy or Westminster system employed in the state, the executive and judiciary would continue to function without the legislature in accordance with the practice of separation of powers.      

azlan Only the state legislative assembly would dissolve once it attains five years while the executive and the judiciary would continue to function, he told reporters after presenting the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (PJM) awards to ex-servicemen and opening the general meeting of the Kelab Bekas Anggota Perisai Kuala Lumpur at the Sunggala Camp in Port Dickson.      

Mohamad was asked to comment on a statement by constitutional expert Abdul Aziz Bari that the state government would be functioning illegally after March 26, as reported by several portals recently.      

The menteri besar said the statement issued by the former lecturer of Universiti Islam Antarabangsa was inaccurate and could confuse the people and raise their anxiety.      

He said that after the state legislative assembly dissolves, the state government would function as a caretaker government.     

According to the Negri Sembilan constitution, the state legislative assembly would dissolve automatically on Tuesday when it attains five years after it first sat following the 12th general election in 2008.     

At the event, 30 ex-servicemen who had served in the military during the first and second emergency periods received the PJM award presented by Mohamad on behalf of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah.      

- Bernama