KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — Appointing an Umno member as his secretary without consulting the party was the nail on the coffin that led to the ousting of Bersatu’s Ahmad Faizal Azumu as Perak Mentri Besar today.

Umno’s Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz told Malaysiakini that Ahmad Faizal’s actions was disrespectful and went against the party’s wishes.

"The final straw was Faizal’s appointment of (Umno’s Pengkalan Hulu assemblyperson) Datuk Aznel Ibrahim as his political secretary without consulting us.

"That was a sore point for us,” the Perak Umno chief was quoted saying in Malaysiakini.

On October 12, Azumu appointed Aznel, Gerik Umno deputy chairman, as his political secretary.

Ahmad Faizal had reportedly said that Aznel, who is also the Pengkalan Hulu assemblyman, is entrusted to manage matters related to his responsibility as Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) deputy president.

Following that, Perak Umno chief Datuk Saarani Mohamad said Ahmad Faizal has disrespected a purported agreement on the formation of the state Perikatan Nasional (PN) government through the appointment of his political secretary.

Saarani said Ahmad Faizal should have consulted the Perak Umno liaison committee before appointing the party’s Pengkalan Hulu assemblyman, Datuk Aznel Ibrahim, as his aide.

Apart from that, Nazri also told Malaysiakini there were unresolved issues regarding the appointment of village chiefs and rubbished speculation that removing Ahmad Faizal was to placate the party who had to allow Sabah to be ruled by Bersatu.

"That’s rubbish, that’s a lie. I sit in Perak Umno and we have our own agenda that’s not connected to any federal bargaining,” he said.