Selangor govt. fails to change state law,no 2/3 majority....

As expected, Umno refused to vote in favour of amendments to the Selangor constitution, depriving the Sultan, the state government and Selangorians the right to appoint the top civil servants of their own state. The motion for the amendments was voted 34 to 20 in favour of Pakatan but it fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass into law. There are 56 seats in the Selangor state assembly.

"From today onwards, let it be recorded in history yang menderhaka Sultan ialah Umno dan Barisan Nasional or the ones who betrayed the Sultan was Umno and Barisan Nasaional," Subang Jaya assemblywoman Hannah Yeoh said on Twitter.

Najib conspicuously absent

The special sitting which began at 9am ended only after 6pm due to prolonged and fiery debate. There was also a peaceful march staged by NGOs linked to Umno to protest the sitting, which has embarrassed Prime Minister Najib Razak who also heads Selangor Umno.Not surprisingly, Najib did not turn up or offer any explanation for not coming to support his team.

Pakatan leaders had expected an orderly special sitting despite eleventh-hour hue-and-cry from Umno leaders over proposed amendments aimed at returning the right of appointment of the secretary, financial officer and legal adviser of the state back to the Sultan and the Mentri Besar.

"There may be a show of support from friends of both groups but we don't expect a repeat of what happened in the Perak sitting. That was under a different situation where a power grab had occurred and the BN was stirring up trouble to make Nizar and his team look bad," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"But at the Selangor sitting, Umno won't dare although it may be itching to lash out because the Sultan has given his consent and that speaks volumes. Some people say this is a Pakatan smokescreen but what are we screening? Did we start this fire or was it Najib and his scheming? At the end of it all, if the motion is carried, the power will return to the state government and thereby the Sultan which was the original constitution and where the power should rightfully be placed. All Selangorians need to do is ask themselves, why should the power of appointment rest with the federal government? Obviously, there were changes and Mahathir did not tell the truth or told only the 'partial' truth."

Why should power be vested in the federal government?

Tian was referring to comments made by former premier Mahathir Mohamad on Sunday that there had been no changes to the "federal" constitution. Selangor administrators have slammed the 85-year Umno strongman for amending state rules when he was in power to enable the federal government to consolidate its grip over the state's administration.

Selangor is the richest of Malaysia's 13 states and has been ruled by Umno-BN from 1957 till 2008, when its unpopular chief minister Khir Toyo was ousted by PKR's Khalid Ibrahim.

Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Khim distributed copies of the proposed amendments when the sitting began at the Selangor state secretariat in Shah Alam this morning.

“This is not only about the rights of the Selangor rakyat but it's the rights of all rakyat. We need all the support and assistance to make Malaysia a democratic country but as highlighted earlier today, there are still a lot of matters that require our attention,” former Bar Council president and civil society leader Ambiga Sreenevasan told a Respect the Vocies of the Selangor People rally on Sunday.

Does S'gor belong to BN or to itself?

Ambiga also heads Bersih 2.0, which is an advocacy movement that campaigns for free and fair elections. There are growing fears that Prime Minister Najib Razak's insistence on appointing Umno stalwart Khusrin Munawi as state secretary was a prelude to another coup d'etat akin to the power grab he engineered in Perak in 2009.

Speculation has been rife that Khusrin - a mere Grade C officer - was intentionally appointed because of his loyalty to Umno. He is believed to be Najib's co-ordinator for a plot to use Rela or volunteer army officers to act as phantom voters in the next election. Should Umno still fail to topple Khalid, Rela will be used to stir up street riots so that the federal government can implement emergency rule and indirectly take over the state.

The state secretary wields significant influence, and very often, whoever holds this position must also have the trust of the Mentri Besar and state executive councilors. This lack of trust forms the basis for Khalid's objection to Khusrin, who has been accused of bias and unfairness in carrying out his duties. The 54-year old Khusrin is the former head of the state religious department and has often been accused of plotting to embarrass Khalid and his government.

"If Selangor Umno is smart, they would have endorsed the amendments and checkmated Khalid. If the bills are passed, do you think it will be so easy for Khalid to drop Khusrin. Khalid too has to show his respect to the Sultan. But sad to say, intelligence is not Umno's forte, so the bill may fail because of the slimmest margins," Tian said.

"Not only is Umno doing a disservice to the Sultan, they are telling Selangor people the state belongs to BN and the federal government. But we are saying Selangor belongs to Selangorians. Selangorians choose their own government and this government must serve them and the Sultan first and foremost."

source:malaysian chronicle

One thing is clear that Pakatan Rakyat at least has got the guts to call for the amendments knowing that it will not succeed. A typical UMNO trade-follow the Lord of Putrajaya(Najib) blindly.

Now we know who the penderhaka are......Saya harap DYMM Sultan Selangor dapat menilai siapa yang menyokong tuanku.

UMNO berpura2 setia kepada Sultan sebaliknya menentang tujuan baik kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat untuk mengembalikan semula kuasa Sultan....

Tindakan ADUN UMNO/BN tidak menyokong usul PR sekali gus menunjukkan yang mereka tidak mahu mengembalikan kuasa kepada Sultan. Kerajaan Selangor telah berjaya membuktikan siapa yang berbohong dalam isu mendaulatkan Raja-Raja Melayu ini.

Seandainya rakyat Selangor serius mahukan perubahan maka mereka terpaksa berusaha untuk mendapatkan 2/3 kerusi yang ada. Ini bukan lagi satu impian tapi satu realiti yang boleh dicapai,ubahlah sekarang....

Read 'Selangor constitutional change: Winners and losers' here.

cheers.