Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin has urged newly appointed Election Commission (EC) chairperson Azhar Azizan@Harun, better known as Art Harun, to turn down the post for the time being.

Khairy argued that although he believed Azhar was qualified for the job, the way in which he was appointed went against Item 17 on Pakatan Harapan's list of election pledges.

He pointed out that Harapan had promised that EC members were supposed to be appointed by Parliament.

"Parliament will convene again on Oct 15. Why can't the appointment be postponed until then? Even without the chairperson, the EC can run the Port Dickson by-election. That cannot be an excuse.

"Even though Azhar's appointment had been consented to by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, I hope he, due to his commitment to institutional reforms, will turn down the appointment temporarily until he is approved by Parliament.

"You must not start the process of institutional reforms with an appointment made in total disregard to the very reforms you have promised," wrote Khairy on Twitter.

You must not start the process of institutional reforms with an appointment made in total disregard to the very reforms you have promised.

— Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) September 21, 2018

Khairy's series of tweets had attracted counterarguments that the Harapan government had five years to introduce the necessary laws and fulfil the promise in question.

However, Khairy repeatedly replied to detractors that their arguments were invalid because the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) was formed without amending the Federal Constitution.

"That could have been even an interim model the Harapan government could have used," he said.

"The JAC did not require a constitutional amendment and did not undermine the King's constitutional powers.

"Similarly, a simple amendment could have provided Parliament a role in the EC appointment before royal assent," he added.