Melaka PH writes to King over assembly dissolution

MELAKA: Melaka Pakatan Harapan (PH) today confirmed it had written to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah seeking a withdrawal of the decision to dissolve the Melaka state legislative assembly.

Its chairman, Adly Zahari, said the letter was delivered at 5.50 pm yesterday by Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee and Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad, the former assemblymen for Pengkalan Batu and Telok Mas, respectively.

"It was received by Istana Negara representative for royal matters Ahmad Hanafi Yahya," he said when contacted by Bernama last night.

Adly said the letter was sent to Istana Negara to seek the courtesy and wisdom of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to advise the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Melaka, Tun Mohd Ali Rustam, to withdraw the decision dissolving the Melaka state legislative assembly on Oct 4.

He said the letter, among others, stated that in accordance with Article 8.2 (b) of the Melaka State Constitution, Tun Mohd Ali did not have the discretion to agree to Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali's request to dissolve the state assembly.

He said it should have been avoided as it had now paved the way for a state election at a time when the country is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, thus threatening the lives of the people and the country's economy.

"The Yang Dipertua Negeri should have held a meeting with all the 28 assemblymen to determine if there is a loss of majority support for the chief minister and a show of majority support for the assemblymen nominated by us, as stated in the Melaka State Constitution with regard to the appointment of a chief minister.

"The process to determine the chief minister should not be done hastily, especially when the Yang Dipertua Negeri was undergoing self-quarantine from Sept 30 to Oct 7," he said.

Adly said the letter was jointly signed by him, Norhizam and Noor Effandi as well as Datuk Seri Idris Haron and Datuk Nor Azman Hassan, the former assemblymen for Sungai Udang and Pantai Kundor, respectively.

The Election Commission received the official notification on the dissolution of the Melaka State Legislative Assembly on Oct 4 from State Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh.

Based on Article 19 (4) of the Melaka State Constitution, a state election must be held within 60 days after the dissolution of the state assembly.

-- BERNAMA