The special sitting tomorrow of the Selangor Legislative Assembly will be interesting with regard to two things - whether the amendment to the state constitution will be carried and whether Port Klang assemblyman Badrul Hisham Abdullah will be allowed to attend the sitting.

State Assembly Speaker Datuk Teng Chang Khim had on Wednesday declared the Port Klang seat vacant as of Jan 16 because Badrul Hisham had allegedly failed to attend the assembly sittings for six months without valid reason.

NONEHe notified the Election Commission (EC) of the vacancy on Friday.

Legal practitioner Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun said that though Teng had the authority to declare the seat vacant, this had to be verified by the EC.

"As such, prohibiting Badrul Hisham (left) from attending the sitting will be improper. This is seen as wanting to reduce the number of assemblymen present. The prohibition indicates the speaker has a hidden agenda," he said.

Mohd Hafarizam was asked to comment on Teng's statement last Friday that Badrul Hisham was ineligible to attend the sitting tomorrow as he was no longer an assemblyman.

Mohd Hafarizam said the issue of the vacancy should have been debated in the assembly, with Badrul Hisham attending to explain himself.

The Selangor government is convening the special sitting to amend the state constitution to restore to the sultan and the state the authority to appoint the three top civil servants -- the state secretary, the state legal advisor and the state financial officer.

It had disputed the appointment of Datuk Mohamed Khusrin Munawi as the state secretary effective Jan 1 by the Public Service Commission as Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was allegedly not consulted.

- Bernama