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by Terence Fernandez PETALING JAYA (March 21,2008): The horse-trading and apparent bickering among the political parties who will make up the new Selangor government are cause for concern for the Sultan.
While he has to remain apolitical, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has, over the last two weeks, found himself having to play arbitrator to the coalition of PKR, DAP and PAS in resolving the executive council line-up as well as the position of deputy mentri besar.
It is a difficult task for the ruler, as while giving advice, he cannot be seen to be interferring.
“Tuanku is worried about the state of affairs of the state and wants the matter to be resolved soon. His primary and only concern is that of the rakyat. They should be served and not be affected by any internal conflicts among the political parties,” a palace aide said on Thursday.
The swearing-in of the executive councillors has yet to take place as the loose coalition making up Barisan Rakyat is still haggling over who gets what, and how many.
Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim is expected to present the final list by today, with the swearing-in to be held on Monday.
The aide stressed that while the Sultan remains apolitical, it is the ruler’s right to express concern or apprehension and offer suggestions.
“That does not mean they (the political parties) have to take the advice,” he said, referring to a newspaper report on Thursday that seemed to indicate that the Sultan had insisted that the 10-man exco line-up should have a Malay majority.
“The suggestion of six Malays and four non-Malays in the exco was not Tuanku’s suggestion but that of Tan Sri Khalid,” said the aide.
He said a 5-5 formula was bandied around during the discussion, but Sultan Sharafuddin reminded Khalid that should there be a deadlock, the mentri besar has the deciding vote.
He said it was the ruler’s opinion that the exco line-up should represent the demographics of the electorate.
“Tuanku will never titah (decree). He will advise. That’s all,” said the aide.
“Tuanku wants them to work as one and not as separate teams inside the coalition. He doesn’t want them to work as three individual groups. That will be detrimental to the welfare of the state and the rakyat,” the aide said, explaining why the Sultan wanted letters from the PKR, DAP and PAS leadership and assemblymen, agreeing to the exco line-up to avoid conflicts.
He added that the ruler also advised the leaders of the political parties that there is nothing stopping PKR from proposing a Chinese or Indian candidate, if it feels that these communities are under-represented.
It is believed that the final list will take on a 4-3-3 formula to PKR, DAP and PAS respectively.
A PAS candidate is expected to take on the role of speaker, and the post of deputy speaker goes to DAP.
Meanwhile, the fixation of the DAP on the deputy mentri besar’s post is also a point of contention for the Ruler as he feels the focus should be on the exco line-up.
“The deputy mentri besar does not have executive powers. He can’t even chair exco meetings unless he is an exco himself. An exco’s role is more important as it carries executive powers,” the aide said. - THE SUN
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