We’ll not rush into joining PH, says Idris Haron

 

Former Melaka chief minister Idris Haron (right) meeting PKR president Anwar Ibrahim. He said he and the three other assemblymen had met PKR, Pejuang and Amanah leaders. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Former Melaka chief minister Idris Haron said he and three other state assemblymen, whose withdrawal of support led to the collapse of the state government, will not rush into making a decision to formally join Pakatan Harapan (PH).

He told FMT that they had met party leaders from PKR, Pejuang and Amanah and had been advised to take their time.

“We have yet to submit any application to any party.

“Party leaders have been pleasant and very supportive over our struggles and all of them encouraged us to move on and not to rush,” he told FMT.

He said the party leaders understood that the four of them had taken a huge risk by withdrawing support for chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali.

“We have lost everything. We withdrew support to reform the state government,” he added.

The other three were Nor Azman Hassan (from Umno); Noor Effendi Ahmad (from Bersatu) and Norhizam Hassan Baktee (who won the seat on a DAP ticket in 2018 only to declare himself an independent who backed Umno).

Idris said they would make a decision on their political future before the nomination date on Nov 8.

“No one is lobbying for anything as our top priority is to ensure Umno does not win the Nov 20 polls,” he said.

Yesterday, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said the four had yet to formally apply to join PH although they had expressed their intentions.

“But since there is no application from them, we’ll wait,” he said.

DAP leader Lim Guan Eng, however, has been adamant that Norhizam must not contest under the PH banner.

This afternoon, the coalition’s presidential council announced that Norhizam would not be named as a candidate in the polls.

It said the candidacy of the other three was not brought up during its meeting today as they are not members of any of the PH component parties.

Idris, who was recently stripped of his Umno membership, has urged PH to set aside internal differences and take measures to win the state polls.

He said it was time to draw up common goals, stay united and not to be distracted by differences within the coalition.

“There is a common enemy and we need to set our goals to win. We should focus and not be distracted by differences.”

The rakyat, the Sungai Udang assemblyman added, needed a clean state government and one that served the people with integrity.

“Let’s win the battle first. It does not matter who becomes the chief minister. If PH wants to appoint Adly Zahari (the former chief minister under PH), we can discuss,” he added. - FMT