ISKANDAR PUTERI, May 7 — Johor Pakatan Harapan (PH) today said the Bill on the appointment of five unelected state assemblymen was hastily brought to the state assembly.
Johor Leader of the Balancing Force Andrew Chen Kah Eng said the matter needed to be discussed in detail as the state’s PH bloc disagreed with the appointment.
“We recommend that it be withdrawn and discussed again,” he said during his speech in the Johor state assembly after the Bill was tabled at Bangunan Sultan Ismail in Kota Iskandar here today.
The Johor state legislative assembly today approved the Bill to amend the state constitution to appoint five unelected assemblymen.
The decision was made after it secured a two-thirds majority, with 40 of the 56 assemblymen supporting the Bill.
Chen said that if the state government intended to proceed with such appointments, the unelected assemblymen should be selected from groups with specific expertise to enable them to express professional opinions in the state assembly.
“The appointments should also come from groups representing minorities to ensure that their voices are represented,” he said.
He said discussions on Johor’s constituency redelineation would have been more relevant than the appointment of unelected assemblymen.
“If we want to add more assemblymen, through the redelineation process itself we can have up to 10 elected representatives in total for Johor.
“So, why is there a need to appoint the five unelected assemblymen?” he questioned, adding that the state government should have held prior discussions with PH and other blocs before coming to a decision.
Chen, who is the Stulang assemblyman, also questioned the amendment, claiming that there were inconsistencies in its legal title in the gazette that was later submitted for approval.