19 Kedah BN reps renounce support for Mukhriz, report claims


ALOR SETAR, 20 Jan -- Menteri Besar Kedah Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Mahathir (tengah) melambaikan tangan kepada para penyokongnya di hadapan Bangunan Tunku malam ini. Petang tadi hampir kesemua Anggota Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) dan Anggota Parlimen UMNO Kedah yang mengadakan pertemuan tertutup telah menyuarakan hilang keyakinan mereka terhadap kepimpinan Mukhriz sebagai Menteri Besar dan Pengerusi Badan perhubungan UMNO negeri.?--fotoBERNAMA (2016) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA

(Malay Mail Online) – All but two of the 21 Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblymen in Kedah have signed statutory declarations supporting the removal of Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, according to The Star today.

Quoting unnamed sources, the report said that 17 Umno and two MCA assemblymen signed the SD, with the only holdout being Datuk Aminuddin Omar. Mukhriz is the other remaining BN representative.

“As of late this evening, 19 have already signed statutory declaration stating their support for the removal of the mentri besar.

“All of them have endorsed the SD saying that they have lost confidence in Mukhriz,” the report quoted one source as saying.

There are 36 state seats in Kedah, with BN holding 21. A minimum of 19 seats is needed to demonstrate that Mukhriz has lost the confidence of the majority in the state assembly.

The report quoted another source as saying that the Kedah royal house was the final hurdle to ousting Mukhriz, and that a swearing-in ceremony for a new MB would take place the moment the palace gave its consent.

The same source said Kedah Umno deputy chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanifah, who heads the group seeking to oust Mukhriz, remains to be the leading candidate, although the palace has requested for more names to be included in the proposal.

In a news conference last Wednesday, Ahmad Bashah led a delegation comprising 15 Umno division chiefs, state and federal lawmakers who expressed loss of confidence in Mukhriz and called for his removal as mentri besar.

Among the reasons given for their discontent was Mukhriz’s purported failure to govern the state, to unite the party and his lack of strategy to face the next general elections due 2018.

Both Mukhriz and Ahmad Bashah met with Datuk Seri Najib Razak separately since the leadership tussle exploded Wednesday, but the Umno president and prime minister has yet to announce any decision on the matter.



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