[UPDATED] Melaka polls won’t see Norhizam under DAP banner: Guan Eng

KUALA LUMPUR – DAP will not accept Melaka’s Pengkalan Batu incumbent and former party member Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee to contest under its banner in next month’s state election.

Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the matter will be raised when the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council meets next.

“I want to stress that DAP rejects completely the Pengkalan Batu assemblyman as a candidate for the state polls,” he was quoted as saying by Utusan Online in a press conference in Melaka today.

Norhizam won his seat in the 2018 general election when he was a DAP member, and was later appointed executive councillor as PH took control of Melaka. 

However, he withdrew support for the PH state government, caused its collapse in March 2020 following the Sheraton Move at the federal level, and threw his support behind the new Umno-led administration. 

He was subsequently sacked from DAP over his involvement in the collapse of the PH government. 

Earlier this month, Norhizam and three other state assemblymen pulled the plug on then chief minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali, triggering a snap election that will be held next month. 

It was previously reported that the four assemblymen who withdrew support for the state government are seeking to contest under the PH banner.

They met opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and other PH leaders at a hotel in Melaka yesterday evening to discuss the matter.

Other than Norhizam, the three others are former Umno duo Datuk Seri Idris Haron and Datuk Nor Azman Hassan, and ex-Bersatu’s Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad. 

Earlier yesterday, the Election Commission announced that Melaka will head to the polls on November 20 to fill 28 vacant seats, with nomination day set for November 8. 

Norhizam has been embroiled in a number of controversies since his election into the state assembly, most notably when he shouted “babi” at PH representatives in the assembly. 

In October, Melaka police were forced to seize his official car after he refused to return it following his resignation as a state executive councillor member. 

Recently, a leaked audio clip purportedly between him and Umno’s Datuk Muhammad Jailani Khamis went viral, in which the pair were allegedly discussing, among others, the offering of millions of ringgit for Norhizam to throw support behind the Umno-led state government. 

Norhizam said he has yet to listen to the recording, and as such, did not wish to comment on the matter. – The Vibes, October 19, 2021