SHAH ALAM: Sungai Burong assemblyman Datuk Shamsuddin Lias tendered his resignation as the state opposition leader, citing the recent amendment to the state legislation that would force him to be the chairman of the Public Account Coucil (PAC) as the main reason.
Shamsuddin, who was met in front of the state assembly building this morning said that he had rejected the offer to become the PAC chairman twice before the state assembly decided to amend article 68(1) of the legislation on Dec 4 that automatically made him the chairman.
"The amendment will change the representation of opposition assemblymen in the council. There are seven of us and if I become the chairman then there would only be one committee member. How can the opposition assemblymen make any impact or decision when the representation is highly skewed.
Shamsuddin said that he would leave it to Barisan Nasional state liaison chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar to decide who would replace him.
"I refuse to allow for my position and those of Barisan Nasional's assemblymen to be reduced to this level when we know we can contribute more to the assembly.
"If the state government is serious about check and balance then they must know that it is better to have more opposition representative in the PAC as we would be more critical when handling matters of the state's expenditure.
"I had requested for he state assembly to consider adding more seats for BN assemblymen in the committee so we can properly contribute. As of now, if I accept the role as a chairman, I am allowing them to reduce me to just a puppet," he said after returning the official car given by the state government to the opposition leader.
The hand over was received by the Selangor assembly state secretary Elya Marini Darmin.
Shamsuddin revealed that the provision of an official vehicle for the state opposition leader was granted and signed during the tenure of former Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, contrary to what has been proclaimed by current Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali.
“The car was granted to me by Khalid and not Azmin but Azmin took the opportunity to gain leverage on the opposition as well as publicity for himself.
“I am tired of keeping mum and has revealed the truth now. Azmin must not get away with consistently taking credit for the works of others and most importantly manipulating people even when he had done nothing to help.
“I made the decision to return this car because Azmin has made a spectacle out of this, as of now the opposition owed him a favour when in truth he did not do anything. I know that the car seemed trivial to others but this concerns the integrity of BN assemblymen and I will not be moved,” he said.
Shamsuddin added they he felt Khalid was more sincere in giving him the car because he did not inform any media on the matter while Azmin had created a publicity stunt while taking credit for what Khalid did, again.
“Because of this car, Azmin had made allegations questioning the integrity of BN assemblymen,” he said.
He also challenged Azmin to abrogate the state’s economic advisor's position, currently helmed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim whose ‘Datuk Seri’ designation was revoked by the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharifuddin Idris Shah last week.