‘Hold vote of no confidence to settle MB issue’

ALOR SETAR: Opposition assemblymen here seemed to be in sync over the mentri besar conundrum, yet not quite.

In a joint statement released just hours before meeting the Regency Council, the 15 assemblymen said the best way to solve the problem was to convene a state assembly meeting and hold a vote of no confidence.

PKR has declared that it would pick Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir if such a vote is called for.

Amanah indicated it would abstain, while DAP and PAS remained ambiguous for now.

State PKR chief Dr Azman Ismail made it clear that the party’s four representatives would vote for Mukhriz “simply because he is the incumbent”.

“We see no reason to change the mentri besar because it is not in the interest of the people,” he said.

State Amanah chairman Dr Ismail Salleh said the party’s sole assemblyman Datuk Phahrolrazi Zawawi would abstain from voting.

“We agree that the problem must be solved in the state assembly but Amanah would not cast a vote because we neither support Mukhriz nor any other mentri besar from Umno,” he said.

When approached after meeting the Regency Council, PAS’ Alor Mengkudu assemblyman Ahmad Yahaya said it was up to each assemblymen to vote as they saw fit.

Kota Darul Aman assemblyman Teoh Boon Kok of DAP said: “If the vote is called, then only we will decide.”

It is learnt that the Regency Council only posed two questions to the opposition assemblymen, asking whether they supported Mukhriz and whether they wanted him to be removed.

A source who declined to be named said each assemblyman only spent three to five minutes in private with the council.

“The council did not waste time on small talk and met all the assemblymen in 45 minutes,” the source said.

The 15 assemblymen consisted of eight from PAS, four from PKR, two from DAP and one from Amanah.

Anak Bukit assemblyman Datuk Amirudin Hamzah and Bukit Selam­bau assemblyman Dr R. Krishna­moorthy did not attend because they were outstation.