ALOR SETAR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A defiant Datuk Seri Muhkriz Mahathir on Wednesday (May 13) rubbished claims by his political opponents that he has lost majority support in the Kedah state assembly, adding that the state government led by Pakatan Harapan (PH) still exists.
"I am still the Menteri Besar, the government is still intact. That is why we still can convene an exco meeting today," he said at a news conference in the northeast Malaysian state. The weekly executive council (exco), or state Cabinet, meeting is held on Wednesdays.
But the party with the biggest number of lawmakers in the state, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), said Kedah ruler has been presented with statutory declarations (SDs) from 23 state assemblymen proposing a new candidate to replace Mr Mukhriz, said PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan.
Mr Mukhriz had earlier said that he could only be ousted after due processes were followed, including getting consent for a change in government from Kedah ruler Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah.
He urged for a sitting of the state assembly confirm that he has lost majority support.
Mr Mukhriz, 55, deputy president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, has led the state government since PH won the May 2018 general election.
The Kedah legislature has 36 lawmakers.
After PH was toppled from power at the federal level in February this year, he has continued as menteri besar (chief minister) with a smaller majority. PH had 19 lawmakers, against 17 seats held by the opposition.
On Tuesday (May 12) two assemblymen from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), aligned to former party deputy president Azmin Ali, quit the party.
The duo, Azman Nasrudin and Robert Ling Kui Ee, said they had lost confidence in PKR which is led by Anwar Ibrahim, and have chosen to quit.
On the same day, Kedah deputy commissioner 1 for PAS, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, said he has 23 of the 36 lawmakers on his side.
He claimed that they comprise 15 assemblymen from PAS, two from Umno-led Barisan Nasional, the two former PKR members and four from Bersatu.
Malaysiakini news site has spoken to three of the four Bersatu assemblymen who said they support a new government which is expected to be led by PAS' Mr Sanusi.
Datuk Takiyuddin of PAS said, according to The Star, he was present at a meeting with Sultan Sallehuddin on Wednesday, with three allied party presidents - Bersatu's Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the Prime Minister, Umno's Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and PAS Abdul Hadi Awang.
"They informed the Sultan that their parties agreed with the candidate that has been named in the 23 SDs to replace Mukhriz as the Kedah MB.
"The meeting was an amicable one and the Sultan received the SDs," Mr Takiyuddin said.
The kerfuffle is taking place amid infighting in Bersatu between its president PM Muhyiddin, and another Bersatu faction led by ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad, the party's chairman.
Mr Mukhriz on Wednesday said the state exco members who attended the weekly meeting have agreed that they will propose to the sultan that the matter be decided in a sitting of the House.
"Only through that way the process will be more transparent, if the opposition wants to table a motion of no-confidence against the menteri besar, they can do that," he said.
