THE decision to declare four seats at the state assembly vacant recently is consistent with the Penang State Constitution.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said such a decision is important to uphold the Penang State Constitution.
Last week, the State Legislative Assembly approved the motion to vacate the seats of four Bersatu assemblymen, namely Dr Afif Bahardin (PN-Seberang Jaya), Zulkifli Ibrahim (PN-Sungai Acheh), Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq (PN-Bertam), and Zolkifly Md Lazim (PN-Teluk Bahang) under its anti-party hopping law.
“It also serves as a lesson to other politicians not to challenge the Penang State Constitution by party hopping.
“The four of them also should not see themselves as victims.
“Pakatan Harapan (PH) is the real victim here after they no longer support the coalition after the Sheraton Move in 2020, although they did contest under the PH ticket back in 2018.
“But they don’t see all of this; they don’t see the impact of their action. Instead, they see themselves as the victims.
“I also would like to reiterate that what we do is consistent with the Penang State Constitution and it was clearly explained during the State Assembly sitting last week.
“Thus, it is not an ‘abuse of power’ or ‘clearly politically motivated’ as claimed by them,” Chow responded to a question by a journalist today regarding a recent remark by Khaliq.
Khaliq claimed that the Penang government has seized the mandate given by the people by declaring the four vacant seats at the state assembly.
He also described the Penang assembly’s move to table and passed a motion to remove them after they had previously withdrawn their support for the administration, as an ‘abuse of power’ and ‘clearly politically motivated’.
When asked about the appeal to the court filed by four of them, Chow replied it was their right to do so.