The swearing-in ceremony is set for 11am today at Istana Iskandariah
by AFIQ AZIZ / pic by BERNAMA
THE Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, has given consent for the Kota Tampan assemblyman Datuk Saarani Mohamad (picture) to be appointed as the new mentri besar (MB) of Perak.
The swearing-in ceremony is set for 11am today at Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar, according to the Comptroller of the Perak Royal Household Datuk Abd Rahim Mohamad.
After five days of uncertainty, Perikatan Nasional (PN) parties have agreed to nominate Umno Perak chief Datuk Saarani Mohamad as the Perak MB.
Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi apologised for the removal of Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu as the MB last week.
The secretary general of PN parties said in a joint statement yesterday that a consensus was made between Umno, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and PAS to retain the coalition as the state government.
“In the meeting, the BN chairman issued an apology on behalf of the BN Perak assemblymen over the action. All the three parties have agreed to propose Saarani as the new MB of Perak, to be approved by the Sultan of Perak,” the statement read.
Prior to this, PAS stated that it would not partake in the new government formation after Ahmad Faizal, who is Bersatu deputy president, lost in a confidence motion tabled in the state assembly last Friday.
According to the statement, apart from the issue of Perak MB, PN has also reached a consensus on other related appointments in the upcoming state government.
“The three parties also agreed to further strengthen cooperation between the parties in the national alliance government in the state of Perak and at the national level for the sake of political stability and the wellbeing of the people,” it added.
Perak Assembly has 59 seats, dominated by BN with 25 seats — all from Umno, followed by DAP (16), Parti Amanah Negara (5), Bersatu (5), PKR (3) and PAS (3), while others are from Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia and one independent representative.
With this development, PN is expected to govern the state with a simple majority of 33 seats.
Ahmad Faizal, the Chenderiang state assemblyman resigned as the Perak MB, together with state executive councillors last Saturday.
As no single party could form the Perak government with a simple majority of 30 seats, DAP, through its Perak chief Nga Kor Ming, had previously offered a joint coalition with Umno which could give the administration a two-third majority in the assembly.
However, political analysts said the move might affect political alignment at the federal level, as well as other states as the PN alliance was already broken up in Perak.
Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Nga did not discuss with the DAP assemblymen the idea of forming a government coalition with Umno in Perak.
Pasir Bedamar assemblyman Terence Naidu claimed that he was not alerted to attend any party meeting after Ahmad Faizal’s resignation last week.
“I cannot speak on behalf of other DAP assemblymen, but I just want to state that thus far, as a Perak DAP committee member, I have not been informed of any discussions and meetings,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
Read our earlier report
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