SHAH ALAM: Selangor state assembly speaker Hannah Yeoh has proposed that Jeram state assemblyman Amiruddin Setro of Umno be appointed as state opposition leader as well as chairman of its Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Yeoh said Selangor Umno should consider Amiruddin as he is the best candidate for the post if the party wants to play its check and balance role effectively in the state administration.
“Currently, two of the most senior leaders in the state PAC are Shamsuddin and Amiruddin,” she said, referring to Datuk Mohd Shamsudin Lias, who resigned as opposition leader last week.
“If the opposition wants to appoint another person to be the next leader, then they have to inform us and we will table the matter in the assembly,” she told reporters after attending a function at the state secretariat building in Shah Alam yesterday morning.
Shamsuddin resigned from his post after refusing an offer to take up the chairmanship of the state’s PAC, saying it was a political move to turn him into a “puppet” for the Pakatan Rakyat government.
“I don’t want to work with my hands tied behind my back and bow down to pressure if I take up the offer,” he had said.
Meanwhile, Selangor Umno chairman Datuk Seri Noh Omar said he had requested lawyers to scrutinise the state assembly rules to ascertain if it was mandatory for the state opposition leader post to be filled.
“If it is not mandatory, then maybe we do not need an opposition leader because we are all from one party. Maybe we will be known as BN representatives,” he said.
Yeoh said the state government had given Barisan Nasional (BN) until early January to come up with a name for the opposition leader post, adding that she recently met Noh to discuss the matter.
“[Noh] wanted to find out more about the rules and the need to appoint an opposition head,” she said, adding that it would send a negative message if BN remains reluctant to fill the vacancy,” she said. — The Malaysian Insider
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 16, 2014.