WAH! ZAHID TURNS POETIC WHILE PAKATAN REPS SALIVATE – MALACCA MAY HAVE MADANI GOVT SOON, HINTS DPM – ‘RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES RESPECTED & HARMONY PRIORITISED. THIS IS THE BEAUTY, PARTICULARLY WITHIN THE MADANI GOVT THAT HAS BEEN FORMED AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL’

Malacca may soon see a unity state government similar to the federal level, implied Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

However, he did not provide further details on the matter, saying it must be discussed first with Malacca Chief Minister Sulaiman Ali and the state BN chairperson Ab Rauf Yusoh.

“Religious differences are respected and harmony is prioritised. This is the beauty, particularly within the Madani government that has been formed at the federal level.

“InsyaAllah, a Madani government has yet to be formed in Malacca, but we might be heading in that direction. Reporters, do not ask me about this matter.

“I will discuss this with the Malacca chief minister and the Malacca BN chairperson,” Zahid said as reported by Utusan Malaysia last night.

Malacca BN has 21 seats in the state legislative assembly followed by Pakatan Harapan with five seats and Perikatan Nasional with two seats.

Sulaiman, also the Lendu assemblyperson, was appointed chief minister following the “Sheraton Move” in March 2020.

He retained the position when BN won the Malacca state election in 2021.

There have been repeated allegations since then that Rauf was undermining Sulaiman, which the former has denied.

Malacca Pakatan Harapan assemblypersons have already joined the government backbencher in December last year, following the formation of the federal Madani government.

Despite that, Ayer Keroh assemblyperson Kerk Chee Yee told Malaysiakini that Harapan backbenchers still received less allocation from the state government than assemblypersons from BN.

Kerk said there have also been no local councillors, village heads or any agency appointments from Harapan in the state since then.

He also said he is not aware of any discussions about any changes to the state government, as implied by Zahid.

However, he added, he looks forward to any strengthening of the cooperation between the state BN and Harapan.

“Madani government or not, for Malacca, I hope the role of the elected representatives can be empowered with more involvement in the drafting and shaping of government policies.

“Involvement in the committees or discussions of the state government’s policies is a good start.

“And, as I advised before, this does not necessarily have to be limited to government assemblypersons only, the opposition members should also be included,” Kerk said.

MKINI

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