Perak PN chairman takes swipe at rivals for superseding Sultan’s authority over choice of mentri besar

IPOH, Nov 9 — Perak Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu today said that the coalition will not supersede the Perak Sultan in deciding the coalition’s mentri besar candidate should it win the 15th general election (GE15).

Ahmad Faizal, who is also Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) deputy president, said that PN respects to the royal institution, stressing that the appointment of the mentri besar was the prerogative of the State Ruler.

“It is up to the states if they want to supersede the State Ruler and name their candidate for the mentri besar post.

“But for PN, we will not do that. We will not betray the Perak Sultan by naming our mentri besar candidate before it is decided by the Ruler,” he told a press conference during his visit to Tambun here as part of his GE15 campaign.

Ahmad Faizal that all PN candidates contesting state seats are capable of leading the state.

However, he pointed out the candidate for mentri besar will be selected from the state PN leadership, such as Perak Bersatu secretary Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin and Perak PAS chief Razman Zakaria, who have experience in the state administration.

Both Zainol and Razman held state executive councillor (exco) posts in the state government before its dissolution.

“If we manage to form the government, then these are among the few names which we will bring to the State Ruler,” he said.

In Perak, Barisan Nasional (BN) has named current caretaker mentri besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad as its mentri besar candidate, while PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli last week confirmed that the party’s Kuala Sepetang candidate Datuk Zainal Azman Abu Seman is its mentri besar candidate.

However, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim insisted that Pakatan Harapan (PH) had not decided who its mentri besar would be, should it win the state during GE15.

When asked if it would be Zainal Azman, who is a former Public Service Department deputy director-general and former Perak state secretary, Anwar said the PH presidential council would still have to discuss the matter.