Faizal talks reconciliation after audience with Sultan Nazrin

Caretaker Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu said parties that were part of his coalition government would have to find a way to reconcile.

"It's a problem now. We need to find a way to reconcile. We need to find a way to form a government," Faizal told reporters after being granted an audience by Sultan Nazrin Shah in Ipoh this evening.

Faizal said this when asked on the position taken by the PAS national leadership that the party's three lawmakers in Perak would not take part in a "new" state government.

To another question, Faizal said he believed that the Perikatan Nasional government in Perak was still intact but alluded that the relationship was strained now.

"They (Umno) decided to do something this morning, without talking to their allies. Definitely, we in Bersatu feel hurt.

"It will take time for us to sit down and talk, but to me, the PN government at the national level is still intact.

"I didn't ask for the PN government in Perak to disintegrate," he said.

At the national level, the ruling PN-BN-GPS alliance is a complicated inter-coalition relationship.

Bersatu and PAS are officially part of the PN coalition while Umno heads the BN coalition. PAS is also part of a formal relationship with Umno, known as Muafakat Nasional.

In Perak, Faizal once counted on the support of Bersatu, Umno and PAS. Umno has 25 seats in the 59-seat Legislative Assembly, followed by Bersatu (five) and PAS (three).

Today, Umno and rival Pakatan Harapan lawmakers voted against a motion of confidence on Faizal that was initiated by an Umno lawmaker.

On his meeting with Sultan Nazrin, Faizal said his audience with the ruler was a four-eyed meeting.

He said the ruler would need to conduct several more audiences before deciding who among the lawmakers commanded majority support to form a new government. - Mkini