Claiming Kedah royals upset by ouster bid, Mukhriz tells plotters to apologise
(Malay Mail Online) – Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir today demanded that those plotting for his removal as mentri besar issue an apology to the Kedah royal house, claiming their actions have offended the state Sultan and the regency council.
In a statement, the embattled mentri besar singled out the 14 Kedah Umno leaders who held a press conference last week to call for his removal, naming them the protagonists of a move he claimed had disrupted state celebrations held in conjunction with Kedah Sultan Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’Adzam Shah’s 88th birthday anniversary earlier this month.
Mukhriz also pointed out that because of the actions of the 14, six of the state’s nine executive councilors (Exco) failed to attend the weekly exco meeting on Wednesday, which he said was a violation of the oaths they took before the state ruler in accordance with the Kedah Constitution.
“As members of the state executive council, their refusal to attend the Exco meeting effectively disrupted the state administrative process and the state government’s programmes and development activities for the people.
“I was informed that His Majesty the Sultan and members of the Kedah Regency Council were angered by the actions of those concerned,” the first-term mentri besar said.
Mukhriz claimed, however, that during the press conference on January 20, many of those in attendance had been blindsided as they were not informed of the ouster bid.
He went on to seek forgiveness from the Kedah royal house on behalf of the Umno leaders involved in the ouster bid, claiming again that their actions had tainted the anniversary celebrations.
Mukhriz also urged those involved in the ouster bid and the six exco members who failed to attend this week’s meeting to issue apologies of their own to the Sultan and the Kedah Regency Council.
“Until this impasse is resolved, all members of the exco and the state legislative assembly must carry out the responsibilities entrusted upon them by the state ruler and his people, as stipulated in the Kedah Constitution,” he said.
Last week, Umno’s deputy chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah led a delegation of 14 Umno division chiefs, state and federal lawmakers to express their loss of confidence in Mukhriz, citing Mukhriz’s purported failures to govern the state and to unite the party, as well as his lack of strategy to face the next general elections due in 2018.
Since then, it has been reported that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has presented a list of possible replacements for Mukhriz to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Kedah Regency Council.
On Friday, Najib told a press conference that the council did not object to any of the names proposed in the list.
