MALACCA POLLS | A purported letter showing Pakatan Harapan assemblypersons endorsing Idris Haron as the Malacca chief minister has been anonymously circulated to several media outlets amid the Malacca polls campaign.
The letter dated Sept 30, prior to the dissolution of the Malacca state assembly, was addressed to Malacca governor Mohd Ali Rustam. However, the stamp of receipt was dated Oct 4.
Harapan’s campaign in the state election has been sidetracked as it struggled to explain its cooperation with Idris (above), an Umno veteran who was recently sacked from his party, and the circulation of the letter appeared geared at putting the coalition on the backfoot.
The letter was purportedly sent by Malacca Pakatan Harapan chairperson Adly Zahari.
Adly’s office, when contacted, described it as an “old issue” and declined to comment.
Malacca DAP chief Tey Kok Kiew, when asked on the matter, said queries should be directed at Adly.
Meanwhile, Malacca PKR chief Halim Bachik did not respond to requests for comment.
The letter declared that Umno’s Sulaiman Md Ali had lost majority support and nominated Idris as the new chief minister.
It carried the names of all Harapan assemblypersons as well as Umno’s Nor Azman Hassan, Bersatu’s Noor Effandi Ahmad and independent representative Norhizam Hassan Baktee. They have all been sacked from their parties.
On Oct 4, Idris went public to declare his withdrawal of support for Sulaiman’s government.
Harapan representatives were also present at the press conference when Idris and three other rebels renounced Sulaiman’s Umno-Bersatu government.
After the announcement, PKR sources at the time had also told Malaysiakini that they were prepared to back Idris as the chief minister based on the belief that he can convince more Umno assemblypersons to join his side.
The rebels and Harapan representatives made up 15 out of the 28 representatives in the state assembly, enough for a majority.
However, Sulaiman responded by seeking a dissolution of the state assembly, which the governor consented, paving the way to fresh polls.
Despite the failed takeover, PKR has decided to field Idris in Asahan and Amanah chose Nor Azman in Pantai Kundor as the Harapan candidate for the Malacca polls despite DAP’s protest.
DAP grassroots unhappy, but bigger things at stake
DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke, at an earlier press conference in Kelebang, Malacca, acknowledged grassroots unhappiness at their allies’ decision to field the ex-Umno leaders.
He maintained that DAP had made its objections loud and clear in the Harapan presidential council meeting but was outvoted by PKR and Amanah.
“It’s been giving off a negative perception of Harapan. What we have come across in our campaign is that some of our supporters have stated their unhappiness but we have to explain to them that DAP's position has been made clear.
“But we cannot just base our voting consideration on these two (defectors). What is the bigger stake is that if they do not come out to vote for Harapan, you will elect a government which is not our choice and Harapan will not have the opportunity to regain our mandate in Malacca.
“We understand the unhappiness among our supporters on this decision and we acknowledge that, but we have tried our best to convince them that there are larger issues at stake,” he said.
Loke reiterated the party’s backing for Adly as its choice for Harapan’s chief ministerial candidate.
Idris served as the BN government's chief minister from 2013 to 2018. Adly took over as chief minister when Harapan formed the government in 2018.
However, the Harapan-led Malacca government was ousted in 2020 through defections, paving the way to the formation of the Umno-Bersatu government led by Sulaiman.
To date, Harapan has not formally announced Adly as Harapan’s chief ministerial candidate although Adly’s party Amanah assured that there is already a consensus and the announcement was a matter of time.
Ex-MCA man sacked from DAP
On a separate matter, Loke said Ng Choon Koon, who is contesting as an independent candidate in Bemban, has been automatically sacked as a DAP member.
Ng was MCA’s assemblyperson for Bemban from 2013 to 2018.
After his defeat, Ng left MCA and in June this year had applied to join DAP, which was accepted.
However, Loke said the DAP does not allow any member to contest as independent candidates without the central executive committee’s approval and those who violate this rule would have their membership automatically voided.
Ng will be contesting against DAP’s official candidate Tey Kok Kiew, who is the state chief.
The other candidates include BN’s Koh Chin Han, PN’s Mohd Yadzil Yaakub and another independent candidate Azmi Kamis. - Mkini
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