Friday, March 26, 2010

New chair appointed for Kelantan regency council


The State Council of Regency today announced the appointment of Tengku Laksamana Kelantan Tengku Abdul Halim Al-Haj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim as its new chairman to replace Tengku Abdul Aziz Tengku Mohd Hamzah.

Council secretary Mohd Aiseri Alias told a press conference in Kota Bharu that Tengku Abdul Halim's appointment was effective yesterday after the cancellation of Tengku Abdul Aziz's appointment, also effective yesterday.

The announcement today was made on the order of the Regent, Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra Ibni Sultan Ismail Petra, the Kelantan Sultan's eldest son, who is also the Crown Prince.

Also present at the press conference were the Comptroller of the Kelantan Royal Household Abdul Halim Hamad and deputy state secretary, Shafie Ismail.

Mohd Aiseri said the Regent had consented the appointment of Tengku Abdul Halim as the new chairman of the State Council of Regency.

Yesterday, Tengku Abdul Aziz with the title Tengku Seri Utama Raja was named as the new Regent of Kelantan after the Sultan Ismail Petra was claimed to have taken away the post from his son, Tengku Muhammad Faris, with immediate effect.

The decision was said to have been conveyed by the Sultan to Tengku Abdul Aziz following which the latter's appointment was announced by the Sultan's private secretary Wan Hashim Wan Daud at Istana Mahkota in Kota Bharu.

However, following the announcement which was reported by the mainstream media websites, Mohd Aiseri publicly stated that Tengku Muhammad Faris was still the Regent as his appointment on May 29 last year was approved by two-thirds of the State Council of Regency members.

Mohd Aiseri, who is also the state secretary, said the announcement made by Wan Hashim on Tengku Muhammad Faris's dismissal as Regent and being replaced by Tengku Abdul Aziz was ineffective as it did not represent the Council.

Tengku Abdul Aziz, who is the elder brother of Gua Musang member of parliament Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, was also said to have acted on his own without calling for a meeting of the Council.

Meanwhile, a police report was lodged by Shafie against Wan Hashim at 10.20am after the press conference following his action yesterday.

It was reported that at 9pm yesterday, police arrested a senior court official with the "Datuk" title at his residence in Taman Sri Aman, Kubang Kerian, in Kota Bharu, in connection with the announcement of Tengku Muhammad Faris's dismissal as the Regent of Kelantan.

Police sources said the arrest was made under Section 419 of the Penal Code for alleged cheating by personation.

- Bernama

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