Appoint senators from Kelantan and Terengganu, PH leaders urge

PETALING JAYA, July 4 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) Kelantan and Terengganu leaders hope the federal government will appoint politicians from the states as senators.

They said the appointments will make up for the lack of representation in the new Cabinet line-up.

PKR Kelantan Chairman Ab Aziz Ab Kadir said the senators can help fulfil the coalition’s manifesto in the state.

“If there is no one to represent Kelantan in the Cabinet, it means there are no representatives of the federal government on the ground here. It would be slightly difficult to push for the government’s agenda here if that were the case.

“Hopefully, appointed senators can fill in the gap,” he said.

In the 14th general election (GE14), PH contested all 22 parliamentary seats and 67 state seats in Kelantan and Terengganu combined but did not win any seats.

PH’s abysmal performance is perhaps one of the reasons why no one from the two states were appointed as Cabinet members, said Terengganu PPBM Chairman Datuk Razali Idris.

“The current line-up consists of those who managed to win or retain their seat in GE14. It seems that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is giving way to those who have performed well in the election.

“However, we are not insistent on asking the PH chairman to elect party leaders from Terengganu to the Cabinet. Perhaps Tun (Dr Mahathir) will provide other opportunities for us to be representatives of the federal government such as being appointed as a senator or other posts,” he said.

Meanwhile, Parti Amanah Negara Terengganu chairman, Raja Datuk Kamarul Bahrin, said he is not concerned about the Cabinet line-up as the matter is being handled by the coalition’s top leaders.

“I leave it up to the coalition leadership to pick those to be in Cabinet. At the moment, I’ll do what I can and ensure the existing responsibilities given to me are done to the letter,” he said.

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu said he is confident that the federal government has not forgotten about the two states.

However, he said the matter was still being discussed by PH and Dr Mahathir will have the final say.

A total of 26 ministers and 23 of their deputies have been appointed as of Monday and Dr Mahathir has said that three more ministers will be appointed at a later date.

He said the posts will be filled by senators who could be non-politicians.