Malacca election: Former state reps send letter to Istana Negara
Two former Malacca state assemblypersons today sent a letter to Istana Negara in the hope to reverse the dissolution of the state legislative assembly which paved the way for snap polls.
According to PKR vice-president Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin, the letter was seeking for Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Nazrin Shah to advise Malacca governor Mohd Ali Rustam to retract his decision on dissolving the state assembly.
"The two former state assemblypersons...
Two former Malacca state assemblypersons today sent a letter to Istana Negara in the hope to reverse the dissolution of the state legislative assembly which paved the way for snap polls.
According to PKR vice-president Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin, the letter was seeking for Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Nazrin Shah to advise Malacca governor Mohd Ali Rustam to retract his decision on dissolving the state assembly.
"The two former state assemblypersons had gone to Istana Negara at 5.55pm to hand-deliver a letter to inform the palace about what's happening in Malacca, particularly the decision by its governor to dissolve the state assembly.
"They are seeking for the deputy king to advise the governor to retract the proclamation of dissolution.
"We have gone through the state constitution, there is no clause or article that bars the state governor from doing so," he told a press conference held at PKR president Anwar Ibrahim's office in Petaling Jaya this evening.
The presser was held after the two Malacca representatives - Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Independent-Pengkalan Batu) and Noor Effandi Ahmad (Bersatu-Telok Mas) - had a meeting with PKR.
The copy of the letter, sighted by Malaysiakini, was also signed by three other former state assemblypersons, including Malacca Pakatan Harapan chairperson Adly Zahari.
The letter was addressed to Sultan Nazrin as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah is not in the country.
'Not the right time for polls'
Shamsul said it is not the right time to hold a state election during the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that Harapan and PKR are strongly against it.
The Hang Tuah Jaya MP also dismissed a suggestion by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to declare a state of emergency so the election can be postponed as what was done in Sarawak.
Shamsul said Zahid's idea was "half-cooked", claiming that it would only create problems for Malacca especially given that the state still needs to pass its budget for next year.
Asked what would be their next course of action should the attempt to seek help from Istana Negara fail, Shamsul said they still have another option - to bring the matter to court.
"Based on the statement made by (Malacca state assembly) speaker when he was announcing the dissolution, he admitted that outgoing chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali had already lost his majority when he sent a letter to advise the governor.
"So, it was something that the governor could have rejected, as he was not (legally) obliged to follow, because it was not acting on the advice. The letter (from Sulaiman) was only a request," said Shamsul.
Meanwhile, when asked about the meeting with PKR, Norhizam denied that he is now supporting Harapan, adding that it was only a normal meeting.
"I have not thought about it (supporting Harapan). For now, we just want to solve the state administration issue," said Norhizam.
Norhizam and Effandi are among the four state assembly members who withdrew their support for BN-Perikatan Nasional state government, which triggered the dissolution of the Malacca state legislative assembly and automatically paved the way for a fresh state election.
The other two were Nor Azman Hassan (Umno-Pantai Kundor) and Idris Haron (Umno-Sungai Udang).
Their withdrawal of support has resulted in Sulaiman, who is from Umno, losing his majority.
Additional report by Hariz Mohd
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