KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council stressed today it is against the appointment of Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali as the caretaker chief minister of Melaka amid the state’s political crisis.
In a statement today, it said Sulaiman has lost the majority of the state assembly and therefore is incapable to be the head of the caretaker government.
“Therefore, Pakatan Harapan rejected the nomination of Sulaiman as the ‘caretaker’ because he had clearly lost the support of the majority of Melaka state assemblymen before the Melaka assembly was dissolved and was no longer able to lead the Melaka state government,” it said.
The council also decided to oppose the dissolution of the Melaka state assembly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the existence of a coalition that allegedly has the majority support.
It also added that discussion should be held with the state’s opposition chief Adly Zahari bloc, Sungai Udang assemblyman Datuk Seri Idris Haron bloc, and Sulaiman’s bloc before deciding the next caretaker mentri besar.
The statement was jointly signed by the leaders of PH’s four component parties, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.
Yesterday, national news agency Bernama reported that Sulaiman currently heads the caretaker government of Melaka and is assisted by the existing members of the State Executive Council.
In a statement, Melaka State Secretary Datuk Kamel Mohamad said all of them except those who had resigned would continue with their respective roles for the time being, following the dissolution of the 14th State Assembly by the Yang Dipertua Negeri Melaka Tun Mohd Ali Rustam on October 4.
