The Selangor constitution does not provide the federal government full authority to decide on the appointment of the state secretary, claimed Kampung Tunku state assemblyperson Lau Weng San.

Lau argued that Article 52 (1) of the state constitution states that the position must be made by the "relevant services commission" and not necessarily the federal Public  Services Commission (PSC).

"It is clear that the appointment of the state secretary does not necessarily have to be made by the PSC. The appointment can also be made by the 'relevant services commissions' such as the Selangor Services Commission.

"The phrase 'Public Services Commission' was not mentioned specifically in the Selangor constitution," said Lau in a statement today.

Lau was commenting on a report by Sinar Harian which said that the palace had endorsed the PSC's recommendation of former Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) director Mohd Khusrin Munawi as the new state secretary.

"In my view, the decision has been confirmed because His Highness has given his consent the appointment," said the sultan's private secretary Mohamad Munir Bani, in a front page report by the Malay daily.

Over the past week, there had been mounting speculation that Khusrin would receive the appointment and it was confirmed by the chief secretary to the government Mohd Sidek Hassan yesterday.

Khusrin had long been regarded as a thorn in the state government's flesh through a series of controversial decisions that had put them in a spot.

His appointment is also the latest in a series of events that has widening the rift between the state and federal government.

State secretary accountable to MB

Taking his legal argument further, Lau said that the state constitution dictates that the state secretary, along with the state financial officer and legal adviser, must take an oath of secrecy before the menteri besar and not the Sultan.

"This means that the state secretary must be directly accountable to the menteri besar," said Lau.

He adds that naturally, the appointment of the state secretary must be referred to the state government for its advice.

Meanwhile, a highly placed source in the Selangor government told Malaysiakini that Khusrin was not among three individuals recommended by the menteri besar to the palace for the state secretary's position.

The trio, said to include a local government  head and a senior state civil servant, were shortlisted and interviewed by a special panel appointed by the menteri besar.

"Perhaps Mohd Khusrin's name was forwarded to the palace by the outgoing state secretary," said the source.

Thorny relationship

Yesterday, the Selangor menteri besar's office issued a statement denying that Mohd Khusrin's appointment, in replacement of Ramli Mahmud, was final.

Mohd Khusrin's thorny relationship with the state government largely stemmed from his ban on speakers at mosques and surau that without Jais' permission.

The most prominent case involved Jais' decision to take legal action against former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin for giving a religious talk at a bungalow in Ampang last year.

Recently, Khusrin issued a warning to the committee members of Surau Al Ehsan, Gombak for inviting PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, a renowned religious scholar, to a speaking function on Nov 22.

He had also suspended the committee of the Al Huda surau in Kajang for allowing non-Muslim Teo Nie Ching, the MP for Serdang and a non-Muslim, to enter its premises during a breaking of fast function.

Khusrin sparked another controversy when he insisted that non-Muslims must be subjected to mandi hadas (ritualistic cleansing baths) before entering a mosque or surau.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad had questioned the validity of this decision.