Idris denies alleged leaked conversation with PM, says it's rude

 

Former Malacca chief minister Idris Haron has denied a purported leaked recording between him and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Idris said the tone of the person was “rude” (kurang ajar) towards the person on the other side of the line, purportedly the prime minister.

“It’s not true. It’s rude. No, that voice sounds rude towards the prime minister,” he told Malaysiakini.

The recording was anonymously circulated to several news organisations this evening. Malaysiakini had sought verification from Idris.

Asked if Idris will be taking action over the matter, the Sungai Udang assemblyperson said he was investigating the issue.

Idris claimed there were certain quarters who have ill intentions against him.

The purported recording was between two men, with one railing against caretaker Malacca chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali and his alleged subservience to Malacca Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh.

The complainant also alleged the current Malacca government was practising discriminatory policies against non-Malays in the state.

The man on the other line was attentive but tried to convince the complainant to reconsider withdrawing support for the Malacca government.

He was also not keen on involving DAP in the Malacca government, stating that he had also resisted forming a unity government with them at the federal level and suggested a confidence and supply agreement instead.

They also spoke of Rauf’s purported discussion of the Malacca crisis with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, bypassing the prime minister.

The complainant also lamented that no other senior Umno leader, including Zahid, had reached out to him.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

Failed coup

Idris, a long-time Umno man and former Malacca chief minister from 2013 to 2018, had sought to oust his party colleague Sulaiman as the chief minister.

In an apparent attempt to fulfil his ambition for a political comeback as the chief minister, Idris recruited three other assemblypersons, namely Umno’s Pantai Kundor assemblyperson Nor Azman Hassan, Bersatu’s Telok Mas assemblyperson Noor Effandi Ahmad and independent assemblyperson Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu) who previously defected from DAP.

Together, they announced on Oct 4 that they were withdrawing support for Sulaiman’s government.

The Umno and Bersatu rogues have since been sacked by their parties.

The BN-PN government in Malacca came to power in March 2020 after it ousted the democratically-elected Pakatan Harapan-led state government through defections.

Controlling 17 out of 28 assemblypersons in the Malacca assembly, the BN-PN coalition governed for almost two years before its numbers were reduced to 13.

This was after Idris’ group of four rebels withdrew support for Sulaiman’s government and courted Harapan to form a new state government.

However, Idris was outmanoeuvred when Sulaiman asked for a dissolution of the state assembly and state governor Mohd Ali Rustam, who is an Umno man and served as chief minister from 1999 to 2013, agreed.

The dissolution was gazetted on Oct 5, paving way for fresh polls within 60 days.

However, Ismail Sabri can seek a localised emergency, similar to the one declared in Sarawak, to postpone polls beyond the deadline.

 - Mkini