Kedah speaker issue must be resolved before July 1 - Mukhriz

Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir said the issue with the state speaker has to be resolved before July 1.

“We plan to have our first state assembly on July 1, so before that, we have to sort something out and I think it’s well underway, so I am not too worried about that,” he said to reporters at the Bersatu headquarters in Yayasan Selangor today.

He was responding to a question about the status of the Kedah speaker, who has yet to be appointed.

However, he said he was currently in negotiations with the state opposition on this issue.

Both the Harapan state government and opposition have 18 seats each, causing the speaker appointment to be at a stalemate.

Even though PAS has indicated that it is ready for a state re-election, Mukhriz says he believes it will backfire on the party. 

“I think it is not in anyone’s interest to trigger a state election and the mood among the rakyat right now is not for another round of elections,” he said. 

The state Election Commission has also told him that it would cost more than RM18 million to hold another state election, he said. 

“It is very costly to have another state election. 

“I’m told by the state election commission that it will cost no less than RM18 million so it’s costly, it’s time-consuming and everyone is election fatigued by now,” he said.  - Mkini