There is no vacancy in the Klang Straits State Assembly – Selangor State Assembly Speaker

SHAH ALAM: There is no contingency vacancy in the Klang Strait State Legislative Assembly seat held by Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari, said Selangor State Assembly Speaker Lau Weng San.

He said there was insufficient evidence to confirm the contingency vacancy.

Lau said the notice brought by Selangor DUN Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali dated June 20, which was received by the Speaker’s office, did not meet the required burden of proof.

“The termination of Yang Berhormat (YB) Selat Klang in Bersatu was found to be a planned dismissal under the operation of Article 65A (2)(c) of the Selangor State Constitution. The notice and evidence from YB Hulu Kelang (Mohamed Azmin) did not meet the burden of proof required to prove that vice versa.

“In essence, it is safe to conclude on a scale of probability that there is not enough evidence to confirm the occurrence of an unexpected vacancy,” he said during the Selangor state assembly meeting today.

On March 6, Abdul Rashid declared his support for the leadership of Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

Previously, Mohamed Azmin, who is also the Chairman of the Selangor National Alliance (PN), handed over a notification of the vacancy of the Klang Straits State Assembly seat to the State Assembly Speaker.

Commenting further, Lau said any Member of the Assembly can inform the Speaker of the State Assembly about the unexpected vacancy of another Assembly Member, and the Speaker has the right to investigate further with the assemblyman concerned before a decision is made.

“If the Speaker immediately after receiving the written notice continues to announce a contingency vacancy without doing any due diligence to verify, investigate, or inquire about the event, then there will be many unforeseen contingency vacancies from time to time.

“I believe this is not and has never been the intention of the legislature in amending the Constitution of the State Government. Therefore, I need to explain that the Speaker’s function according to the constitution is to investigate first after receiving the notice,” he said.

Mohamed Azmin, who represented the PN assemblyman in a press conference at the Wisma Lobby of the Selangor House afterwards, expressed his regret regarding the decision and said he would look into the matter before taking any action, including legal action.

The Selangor state assembly session has been postponed to a date to be announced later.