KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council announced that former Melaka Exco Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee will not be fielded as a coalition candidate for the Melaka state election (PRN).

The council did not state why it will not offer a spot to Norhizam, who was one of the four assemblymen who rejected former chief minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Ali to trigger the election, but DAP has openly opposed his candidacy.

It also said it has not discussed the candidacy of the remaining three assemblymen.

"It should be emphasised that the interests of the people are more important than any individual.  As they are not members of any component party of Pakatan Harapan, the question of their candidacy in the PRN did not arise in today’s meeting.

"However, the presidential council also decided that Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee will not be a Pakatan Harapan candidate in the Melaka state election,” the council said in a statement.

On October 19, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said his party would not accept Norhizam, who won the Pengkalan Batu seat as his party’s candidate in 2018 but jumped to support Perikatan Nasional government and caused the state PH government to collapse last year.

Norhizam, along with Bersatu’s Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas), Umno’s Datuk Seri Idris Haron (Sungai Udang), and Datuk Noor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor), withdrew their support for Sulaiman last month.

The quartet was reportedly given a hero’s welcome at a PH event on October 18.

Norhizam and Idris was also photographed meeting with PH chairman and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his residence earlier this month.

Today, the council also said former chief minister Adly Zakaria from Amanah has been appointed to lead the coalition’s election machinery for the state election.

The council, which met yesterday, also decided to send a representative to meet and discuss with the Election Commission on the standard operating procedures for the state election.

"This is to convey the views of Pakatan Harapan and ensure that the principles of democracy are upheld, the right of political parties to meet voters is not affected, and the election process is fair to all parties, especially when Melaka is in Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan,” said the council.