Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Perak BN to set up shadow exco - NST

IPOH: April 23, 2008 by M. Husairy Othman

After weeks of deafening silence and soul-searching, the Perak Barisan Nasional (BN) has set up a shadow executive council line-up to monitor the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government.

A well-informed source said agreement was reached on the formation of the council during a closed-door meeting attended by BN assemblymen at the state Umno headquarters three weeks ago. No announcement has been made on this development.

The source also revealed that the state would have the largest shadow executive council as 13 assemblymen were picked to head the respective portfolios, compared with 11 in Penang and 10 in Selangor.

"Each shadow exco member will be assisted by one or two assemblymen, depending on the workload and importance of their respective portfolios.

"We decided to expand the number of committee members for more effective monitoring of the administration," he said.

The source said former menteri besar and state BN chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali would assume the role of state opposition leader.

Among those in the shadow executive council are Temenggor assemblyman Datuk Hasbullah Osman, Slim assemblyman Datuk Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib and MCA's sole representative, Chenderiang assemblyman Dr Mah Hang Soon.

"For now, there will be no MIC representatives as their candidates were wiped out in the general election.

"However, a special committee will be formed where several MIC representatives will be selected to look after the interests of the Indian community," the source said.

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