JOHOR BARU: After being left out of the Johor executive council (exco) line-up yet again, Pakatan Harapan is now eyeing local council and village chief positions.
Johor Pakatan deputy chairman Aminolhuda Hassan (pic) said there are voices in the grassroots claiming that the relationship between Pakatan and Barisan Nasional in the state is not as strong as it is in the Federal Government.
The state Amanah chief said they accepted Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi’s decision not to include Pakatan in the Feb 13 state exco reshuffle, which replaced one Barisan exco member with a fellow party member.
“Although Amanah only has one state seat in Johor, there are state assemblymen from DAP and PKR, so it would have been best to include Pakatan in the line-up as a show of good faith.
“But since there is no place for Pakatan in the state exco line-up, we accept it but we hope to be given the chance to take on posts as local councillors, village heads and Chinese new village chiefs.
“This will reflect the true spirit of unity and collaboration between federal and state, and project the strength of the Madani government,” he told a press conference after chairing the state Amanah leadership committee meeting here yesterday.
State Amanah deputy chief Dzulkefli Ahmad urged the state government to consider their request, while keeping in mind the 16th General Election and state election.
“We have to consider whether there will be a Barisan-Pakatan partnership going into the next state election like how it was in other states. Or will we be going our separate ways?
“We should not wait until the state legislative assembly or Parliament is dissolved to start talking about the unity spirit. That might be too late for us,” said Dzulkefli, who is also a former state exco member.
The Johor exco consists of 10 assemblymen, all from Barisan, after the coalition won 40 out of 56 seats in the state election in March 2022.
On Feb 13, Johor Lama assemblyman Norlizah Noh of Umno, who was the state education, information and communication committee chairman, was dropped from the exco.
She was replaced by fellow Umno member, Tanjung Surat assemblyman Aznan Tamin.
In September last year, Aminolhuda expressed hope for at least three Pakatan representatives in the Johor exco following the unity government’s win in the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections, which he attributed to the “good partnership” between Pakatan and Barisan.
On another matter, Aminolhuda said discussions will be held before Hari Raya to decide who will take over the Johor Pakatan chairman position, which was left vacant following the passing of former Amanah deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub in July last year.
Aminolhuda said he will be heading to Kuala Lumpur soon to discuss the matter with Johor PKR chief Rafizi Ramli and state DAP chief Liew Chin Tong.
“The Johor Pakatan chief will be chosen from the three of us following a consensus,” Aminolhuda added.
