Status quo for Penang as Amanah duo voice support for Pakatan govt

GEORGE TOWN, Feb 25 — The two Parti Amanah Negara assemblymen in Penang have voiced their support and continued alliance with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state government, making it status quo for the state administration.

Bayan Lepas assemblyman Azrul Mahathir along with his fellow Amanah assemblyman Muhammad Faiz Fadzil’s support for PH means Penang will remain as a Pakatan administration.

“DAP has 19 seats and with the two Amanah seats, we will still have a simple majority to remain as a PH state government,” he said.

There are a total 40 seats in Penang with DAP holding 19, PKR 14, Amanah two, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) two, Barisan Nasional (BN) two and PAS one.

Azrul said PKR in Penang remains strong and is aligned with the PH state administration.

According to PKR Central Leadership Council member Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain, all Penang PKR assemblymen are with the Pakatan state administration.

“As far as l know, all Penang PKR Aduns are with the PH government,” he said in a brief message to Malay Mail.

Abdul Halim is the Batu Maung assemblyman and also the Penang state exco for international and domestic trade, consumer affairs and entrepreneur development.

Penang has an anti-hopping law under its state constitution which could prevent any of the Penang assemblymen from switching parties.

Article 14(A)(1) of the Constitution of the State of Penang (Amendment) Enactment 2012 states that a member of the assembly shall vacate his seat if:

(a) Having been elected as a candidate of a political party, he resigns or is expelled from or ceases for any reasons whatsoever to be a member of that party or

(b) Having been elected as an independent but later joins a political party.

Lawyer Surendra Ananth said the anti-hopping law in Penang will apply to all Penang assemblymen and can be enforced in accordance with the law.

This means any assemblyman who decides to switch parties will need to resign from their seat.

However, he said the assemblyman can still challenge this in court based on the 1992 Supreme Court decision on the Kelantan state constitutional case.

“If that decision is followed, he will most likely succeed,” Surendra said.

Another lawyer, Nizam Bashir, is of the view that the state’s anti-hopping law contravened Article 10(2)(c) of the Federal Constitution.

He also referred to the 1992 decision by the Supreme Court in the Dewan Undangan Negeri Kelantan vs Nordin Salleh case.

The Supreme Court had declared that the amendment to the Kelantan constitution that prohibited party-hopping was inconsistent with Article 10(1)(c) of the Federal Constitution, a provision that allows freedom of association.

Due to the precedent case, Nizam said it would be difficult to enforce the anti-hopping law on any Penang assemblyman.

“In spite of the existing jurisprudence, I take a contrarian view and believe that it would be worthwhile for the Assemblymen to challenge the constitutionality of the provision.

When the Court decides, the interests of voters must hold centre stage in its judgment,” he said.

“Either way, given that provision in the State Constitution, the assemblymen (who wish to hop parties) will have to vacate their seat,” he added.

The Pakatan federal government collapsed yesterday after PPBM left the coalition with its 26 MPs, along with the resignation of nine former PKR MPs from the party.

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