Kedah Regency Council to meet BN reps, says report

The Kedah Regency Council will be meeting state BN assemblymen and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir to resolve the ongoing menteri besar issue. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, January 31, 2016.

The Kedah Regency Council‎ has requested to meet the state Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblymen to resolve the menteri besar issue, Sunday Star reported today.‎

The English-language daily said the council would meet all 21 representatives, including Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, individually on Monday.

‎Citing political sources, Sunday Star said the meeting in Alor Star was to allow the council to assess whether the majority of the BN assemblymen supported a change in menteri besar.

They told the paper ‎the council was forced to act because Mukhriz refused to step down as menteri besar.

Media reports differ over the list of menteri besar candidates submitted to the Kedah Regency Council, with Berita Harian saying that Kedah Umno deputy liaison chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah did not make the cut.‎

Quoting unnamed sources, the Malay-language daily said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had proposed three assemblymen – Datuk Dr Ku Abd Rahman Ku Ismail (Guar Chempedak), Datuk Mohd Rawi Abdul Hamid (Ayer Hangat) and Datuk Azmi Che Hussin (Bayu).

But Sunday Star said only Bashah's name was submitted when the Umno president had audience with the Kedah palace on Friday.

In a press conference on January 20, Bashah said Mukhriz failed to unite the party and machinery in Kedah, and had not provided strategies to face the next general election.

He said 14 of the state's division and wing leaders wanted Najib to intervene to remove Mukhriz.

Media reports said 19 Umno representatives in the state assembly had signed sworn statements in support of Mukhriz's removal.

The report also said the palace had requested for a formal letter on Mukhriz's status in Umno, and that Mukhriz was summoned for an audience at 4pm Friday.

On Friday, Najib announced that his meeting with the Kedah Regency Council went smoothly and the proposed list of candidates to replace Mukhriz had been submitted and not rejected by the palace.

He did not reveal the list and said Mukhriz would remain as Kedah menteri besar and the state Umno chief until further notice.

-TMI