KUALA LUMPUR – In the immediate aftermath of the Perak menteri besar crisis, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said Datuk Saarani Mohamad’s nomination for the post is “fair”, as the party commands the most seats in the state assembly.
While Umno holds 25 seats in the state, Ahmad quipped that the party used to command 27 seats – two assemblymen defected after the last general election.
“According to Umno’s mathematics, the ones who leaped (to other parties) had seats belonging to us. Therefore, Umno had 27 seats and Bersatu had one,” he said ahead of the Muafakat Nasional (MN) meeting tonight.
Ahmad is attending a secretariat meeting between Umno and PAS leaders on their political pact at Umno headquarters in Menara Dato Onn here.
He also said Umno is grateful that the party with the most seats is chosen to take on the menteri besar post.
Umno, Bersatu, and PAS agreed on Saarani being named menteri besar candidate, following a leadership meeting between the parties earlier today.
The nomination was made officially in a joint statement signed by the secretaries-general of the three parties, who said this was done to upheld the spirit of cooperation in Perikatan Nasional.
In the same statement, Barisan Nasional chairman and Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi apologised on behalf of the coalition’s state assemblymen for the “mistake”.
On the perceived friction between Umno and PAS resulting from the crisis, Ahmad said he did not see any problems with the relationship between the two parties.
“The Perak event is not a (Umno) problem with PAS.”
Asked if tonight’s meeting agenda will address Umno-PAS’ stand on the Bersatu cooperation, Ahmad said it is “possible”.
“Perhaps we will be given information and lessons from what happened in Perak. To me, what happened in Perak has matured the political relationship between Umno, Bersatu, and PAS,” he said.
Among those spotted by The Vibes at the building lobby are MN joint secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Umno youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad, and PAS information chief Kamaruzaman Mohamad.
On November 18, Umno’s Pengkalan Baharu representative Datuk Abdul Manaf Hashim filed a motion of confidence through a letter to Perak Speaker Datuk Mohamad Zahir Abdul Khalid.
Last Friday, the Perak government fell after Chenderiang assemblyman and Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu lost a confidence vote in the state assembly.
Faizal announced his resignation at Laman Seri Perak, the old menteri besar’s residence, last Saturday.
The crisis caused rifts between PN components after Umno president Zahid said the party was willing to consider new political alignments if a PN state government failed to materialise. – The Vibes, December 9, 2020
