Andrew Ong | Jul 29, 08 3:15pm
Perak Umno liaison chief Tajol Rosli's claim that PAS can keep the menteri besar post should the two parties form the state government is a lie, said PKR Kuala Kurau assemblyperson Abdul Yunus Jamahari.
He said the state laws require the menteri besar to be from the majority party, a Malay Muslim and with the consent of the Perak Sultan.
"As we already know, Umno has 27 seats while PAS only has six. From a legal point of view, the menteri besar would be appointed from Umno, not PAS.
"Tajol is a liar. This is his trick and political ploy against the Pakatan Rakyat government. I don’t believe PAS would fall into such a trap," he told Malaysiakini.
Yesterday, the former menteri besar revealed that Perak Umno had asked PAS to form a new state government with them. The deal sweetener was PAS retaining the menteri besar post and several state executive councillor slots.
Currently PAS despite assuming the menteri besar position, only has one executive councillor, Zainudin Mohd Yusof (Lubuk Merbau). DAP has the lion share with six executive councillors.
If PAS accepts the offer, the BN-PAS coalition will have a nine-seat majority in the Perak state assembly.
Perak Menteri Besar Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin has dismissed the offer and pledged his party’s support for the present Pakatan state government.
Following the March 8 general election, Nizar was appointed menteri besar by the Perak Sultan after DAP, PKR and PAS each nominated a candidate for the position.
'Tajol in denial'
PKR’s Teja assemblyperson Chang Lih Kang said he received no indication that PAS was about to leave the coalition.
"I think Tajol is still in the state of denial and cannot accept that the people of Perak voted Barisan Nasional out," he said.
He said Pakatan coalition parties would work hard to maintain the state government and not squander their historic win.
Meanwhile, Perak DAP deputy chairperson M Kulasegaran said Tajol must respect the decision made by the voters and any backdoor manoeuvring is tantamount to belittling them.
"If the opposition can wait 50 years (to come to power), there is no reason why BN cannot wait for five years. It has not even been five months and they are trying to grab power," he added.
A total betrayal
In another development, MIC central working committee member S Murugesan said that the proposed PAS-Umno coalition government in Perak was a betrayal to both the voters and respective coalition party members.
"Forming a government through such back door tactics will erode the confidence of our people on the very political process in this country," said Murugesan in opposing the proposed move.
Instead, Murugesan recommended that the two parties concentrate on governing properly instead of focussing on narrow racial or religious agendas.
Murugesan also warned that a merger between PAS and Umno would lead the country towards further racial politics.
"God forbids if this were to happen as there won't be turning back and Malaysia will be consigned to join the ranks of some of the worst countries in Africa," he added.
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YB Abdul Yunus of PKR called Tajol Rosli a liar for offering the post of MB to PAS. According to him, the state laws require the menteri besar to be from majority party. Consequently, he argued that should BN and PAS agree to form a collusion govt, the MB has to come from UMNO who hold 27 seats.
YB Yunus argument goes against what has taken place in Perak. MB Dato' Seri Mohamad Nizar is from PAS, the party with the smallest number of State Assemblymen(6) among PR parties, compared to PKR(7) and DAP(18).
If Mohamad Nizar can be appointed as MB for PR, whats the problem of retaining him as MB under a new BN-PAS collusion.
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