Lilah to be Negeri MB?

SEREMBAN: There are indications that Negeri Sembilan BN chief Mohamad Hasan will lose his menteri besar post to someone aligned to his predecessor, Mohd Isa Abdul Samad.

Topping the list is Lilah Yasin, the new state assemblyman for Palong, sources in Negeri Sembilan Umno told FMT.

Lilah comes with strong credentials. He was the representative for Jempol in the last parliament. Before that, he was a state assemblyman for four terms and served as speaker for the state legislature between 2004 and 2008.

The sources said there was a great possibility that BN chairman Najib Tun Razak would place his men in menteri besar positions in other states as well. They pointed out that this was clearly seen in his fielding of Johor’s Abdul Ghani Osman and Malacca’s Mohd Ali Rustam for parliament seats.

In Negeri Sembilan, most of the candidates who contested for state seats in last Sunday’s election are from Isa’s camp. Mohamad is from a rival camp although there is no history of personal rivalry between him and Isa.

According to the sources, the freshly elected assemblymen who are aligned to Mohamad are Dr Awaluddin Said (Kota), Zaiful Bahri Idris (Chembong), Mohd Ghazali Wahid (Paroi), Hasim Rusdi (Labu) and Abu Ubaidah Redza (Ampangan).

Those in Mohd Isa’s camp outnumber them. They are Lilah, Jalaludin (Pertang), Norhayati Omar (Pilah), Tun Khairudin Abu Bakar (Bagan Pinang), Abdul Razak Said (Gemas), Abdul Samad Ibrahim (Sri Menanti), Abdul Rahman Mohd Redza (Linggi) and Ishak Ismail (Lenggeng).

“It’s not hard for anyone to guess that Isa is close to Najib and trusted by him,” said a source. “Otherwise, he would not have made him the chairman of Felda.”

The sources said it would be interesting to see what would happen if Najib decided to retain Mohamad as menteri besar. They expect opposition from Lenggeng’s Ishak.

It is an open secret that Mohamad and Ishak have not been on friendly terms since the 2004, when Mohamad began his first term as state assemblyman. He became a favourite target of Ishak’s outbursts in the assembly sessions.

The animosity has lasted until today. Even as recently as last Saturday, Ishak accused Mohamad of failing to stop a protest that was held against him three weeks ago in Lenggeng.

A few days earlier, he had complained that the state BN had not provided sufficient funds for his campaign.

Earlier today, both Malacca and Perlis saw news faces as the CEO of the states. In Malacca, Idris Haron was named as the chief minister while Azlan Man was named as the MB in Perlis. Yesterday Mukhriz Mahathir was appointed as the Kedah MB. In Perak meanwhile, Zambry Abdul Kadir has been appointed again as the MB