SHAH ALAM: Selangor's new State Secretary will be announced on Jan 3 by the Chief Secretary to the government.
Today, Selangor State Secretary Datuk Mohammed Khusrin Munawi clocked out for the last time from his office at the Selangor state secretariat building at 5pm.
He officially retires on Jan 3 but he has gone on leave starting today.
Khusrin said the Public Service Department had sent nine names to be vetted and two have been shortlisted for the post.
"I know who my replacement will be, but I am not at liberty to reveal who that person is," he said, adding that he hoped his replacement would continue the good relationship with the state government, civil servants including district officers and local council chairmen, and also the palace to ensure that the state government could run smoothly.
Meanwhile, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali when met after sending Khusrin off said the swearing in ceremony would be held on Jan 9 at Istana Kayangan, here.
"He is Selangor-born," he said when asked who Khusrin's replacement is.
It is understood that among the candidates for the top civil servant post in the state are Selangor State Financial Officer Datuk Noordin Sulaiman, State Economic Planning Unic (UPEN) deputy director Nor Azmi Diron, Shah Alam mayor Datuk Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad and Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) director Datuk Haris Kasim.
Khusrin's appointment in Jan 2011 saw a raging dispute when the Selangor state government objected his appointment because the former Jais director was known as a conservative whose decisions were sometimes at odds with the Parti Keadilan Rakyat-led state government's stance.
The Selangor state government which was then under former Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had insisted that it has the right to name its own candidate for the post.
However, the Sultan of Selangor overrode Khalid's objection and approved Khusrin's appointment.
Khusrin has served in several top civil servant posts in Selangor for the past 30 years before he retired.
Before he was appointed as Selangor State Secretary, Khusrin was Jais' director from 2009 to 2011.
Some 200 state civil servants sent him off today.
