IPOH, Dec 4 — Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said he would continue to perform his duty as Perak Menteri Besar until the new Menteri Besar is picked by the Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah.
Ahmad Faizal, who is also the Chenderiang State Assemblyman, said he would attend several programmes scheduled prior to this and continue to provide services, but would not make any major decisions.
“I will lead the ‘caretaker government’ and hope this issue can be resolved soon. Of course the Sultan will make a decision to choose one of the State Assemblymen who have enough majority to form a government,” he told reporters after an audience with Sultan Nazrin at Istana Kinta, here, this afternoon.
Ahmad Faizal said he had informed Sultan Nazrin that he had lost the majority as Menteri Besar in the State Assemblymen’s vote of confidence at the State Assembly today.
The Parti Pribumi Bersatu’s (Bersatu) deputy president failed to get the majority support in the motion after only 10 Assemblymen supported him, 48 did not support while another abstained after a written vote was conducted on a motion submitted by Datuk Abd Manap Hashim (BN-Pengkalan Bharu).
The Perak DUN consists of 25 Barisan Nasional (BN) state assemblymen all from UMNO, 16 from DAP, Bersatu (five), Amanah (five), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (three), PAS (three), Gerakan and Bebas, one each, respectively.
Ahmad Faizal was re-appointed as the Menteri Besar of Perak through the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government which was formed through the mandate of 32 State Assemblymen on March 13 after Bersatu left Pakatan Harapan (PH)
He previously led the PH government after the 14th General Election in 2018. The Perak PH government collapsed on March 10 after Ahmad Faizal resigned.
Ahmad Faizal, who is also the Member of Parliament for Tambun, admitted that Bersatu was disappointed with the motion, but still hoped that the PN in Perak would not be divided.
“If we decide to focus only on one purpose, it will cause a reaction to others which will not bring benefits to ourselves, like now the problem is to find a way to form a government,” he said.
Apart from Ahmad Faizal, State Assembly Speaker Datuk Mohamad Zahir Abdul Khalid, State Secretary Datuk Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim and Perak State Legal Adviser Azmir Shah Zainal Abidin also had an audience with Sultan Nazrin.
Tomorrow the PH leaders in Perak consisting of DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming; PKR chairman Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak and Amanah chairman Datuk Asmuni Awi were scheduled to meet Sultan Nazrin at Istana Kinta at 11 am.
— BERNAMA
