Dewan Rakyat:State govts can transfer any civil servant, says Karpal - NST

Reports by V. Vasudevan, B. Suresh Ram, Eileen Ng, R.S. Kamini, Ili Liyana Mokhtar and Joseph Sipalan

IT is the prerogative of the state governments to move any of their civil servants without consulting the head of a particular state, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) said yesterday.

Speaking at the parliament lobby, he said state governments should not feel intimidated by royal administrations as they were not answerable in matters concerning civil administration.

Referring to the events involving the reinstatement of Datuk Jamry Suri to the position of Perak Islamic Religious Department director after being directed to do so by the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah, Karpal said the Perak state government should not have changed its decision to transfer Jamri.

Karpal said the situation reflected badly on the current administration and it would be seen as weak.

"The Perak Menteri Besar has buckled and wilted under the intimidation by the royalty and this sets a very bad precedence if the royalty interferes in the state administration."

He added that this was not the first time for such interventions by the royalty, citing the appointment of the menteri besar in Terengganu and Perlis.

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