KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — Arau MP Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim has asked Umno to give up the opposition leader seat in Selangor for Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Shahidan said that Umno is part of the Unity Government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and is no longer the opposition in the state.
“I hear Selangor Umno has five seats while PN has seven seats but the opposition leader does not want to quit because he thought Umno is still in the opposition, even though Umno is currently in coalition with Pakatan Harapan (PH).
“He has to quit so PN can become the opposition leader in Selangor. The people in Selangor are looking for something interesting and they support PN in the upcoming state election because Umno, even after they had lost, did not want to quit as opposition leader,” he said in the winding up debate of the Youth and Sports Ministry at the committee level in Dewan Rakyat today.
Previously, the media reported that Selangor state government has yet to receive a resignation letter from Sungai Tawar assemblyman Datuk Rizam Ismail who the state’s opposition chief as of now.
The matter was confirmed by Selangor State Assembly Speaker Ng Suee Lim when commenting over the motion raised by Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali in the assembly.
Meanwhile, over the athletes sent to participate in international competitions, Shahidan who is also Malaysia Athletics Federation (KOM) president requested the government to fund the second or B team so that the association willl not be burdened.
“When we send teams to compete at the international level, team A is funded by the government while team B is funded by the association.
“This is not good and should not continue. Athletes need the exposure as when they have the potential, they will be selected by the National Sports Council (MSN) and the Olympic Council.
“We also have to pay the coaches so I am appealing to the Youth and Sports Minister to at least pay half of the expense,” he said.
