IPOH, March 3 — Perak Umno has reportedly nominated Kota Tampan assemblyman Datuk Saarani Mohamad to take over as mentri besar from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.
In a report by Astro Awani yesterday, Saarani admitted to the decision.
“Yes,” he replied, when asked if he has been named as a candidate.
The Perak state government has changed hands after Bersatu quit the Pakatan Harapan pact to join forces with Umno and PAS.
Now, both Umno and PAS will reportedly nominate their own candidates against Bersatu’s for the Perak Sultan’s consideration.
In a separate report, Sinar Harian quoted an anonymous source from the Umno-PAS pact called Muafakat Nasional, saying that all state Umno and PAS assemblymen had signed a statutory declaration to appoint Saarani as the mentri besar.
The report also stated that all Umno division chiefs had agreed to the nomination in the appointment of the Kota Tampan assemblyman as the state leader during the party’s state liaison committee meeting held on February 24.
However, it was unclear whether Ahmad Faizal himself is willing to give away the mentri besar post to Umno.
The report also stated that Ahmad Faizal has a shot at a Cabinet position under the leadership of Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was appointed as the prime minister on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Bernama today reported that Umno, PAS and Perak Bersatu have agreed to form a new government in Perak in the same mould as the federal government.
Saarani told Bernama that Perak Umno and PAS had separate meetings with Ahmad Faizal Azumu to discuss the matter today.
Saarani said, in principle, the three parties now had enough seats to form the new state government with Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) having 25, PAS three, Bersatu two and one independent assemblyman backing them.
The Perak State Legislative Assembly was hung after Bersatu officially pulled out from Pakatan Harapan last week.
Despite the party exit from PH, Ahmad Faizal said that Perak government was functioning as usual despite changes to the ruling coalition.
Ahmad Faizal also said he still commanded the support of the majority and could remain as the mentri besar.
