Perak Politics: Impasse ends with tripartite agreement

IPOH: The tripartite meeting between Barisan Nasional (BN), Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and PAS in Parliament today brought an end to the five-day Perak political impasse with the announcement of UMNO’S Datuk Saarani Mohamad as the new Menteri Besar.

Beginning with BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s apology to Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the actions taken by the BN state assemblymen in the Perak State Assembly sitting last week, the two leaders with PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang agreed to a consensus in proposing Kota Tampan ADUN, Saarani Mohamad as the new Menteri Besar.

Comptroller of the Perak Royal Household, Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohamad Nor in a statement this afternoon said the decision was made after Sultan Nazrin considered the proposal and was confident that Saarani would get the majority support of the assemblymen.

"His Highness has set 24 Rabiulakhir 1442 or 10 December 2020 at 11 am for the swearing-in ceremony of the Menteri Besar at Istana Iskandariah, Perak," said the statement read by Perak Dewan Negara Member, Datuk Seri Annuar Zaini at the Istana Kinta compound here today.

Prior to that, eight assemblymen were seen entering Istana Kinta to have an audience with Sultan Nazrin.

They are three PAS assemblymen, namely Gunung Semanggol ADUN Razman Zakaria, Selama ADUN Mohd Akmal Kamarudin and Kubu Gajah ADUN Khalil Yahaya.

It was followed by three Bersatu ADUNs, namely Sungai Manik ADUN Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin, Tualang Sekah ADUN Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohammed Radzi and Kuala Kurau ADUN Datuk Abdul Yunus Jamhari.

Also appearing before Sultan Nazrin were Buntong ADUN from Gerakan, S. Subramaniam and Tronoh ADUN Paul Yong Choo Kiong.

"Today we have reached an agreement by our leadership. We at the state level have extended what the three party presidents have decided,” said Razman as soon as he left Istana Kinta.

Zainol Fadzi in his statement also agreed with Razman.

“We arrived at this decision based on the understanding at the central level by the presidents of Bersatu, UMNO and PAS.

"So, that is the decision that we presented to the Sultan of Perak," he said.

The crisis in the formation of the Perak government began after Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu failed to gain support in the motion of the House members' confidence in the Menteri Besar in the State Assembly (DUN) last Friday.

In the vote on the motion brought by Datuk Abd Manap Hashim (BN-Pengkalan Baru), Ahmad Faizal from Bersatu only got 10 votes compared to 48 who rejected while one abstained.

Following that, Ahmad Faizal resigned as Menteri Besar together with the entire line-up of the State Executive Council Members.

Saarani, 59, was born in Lenggong, Perak on March 13, 1961. Married to Datin Aezer Zubir, the couple have eight children.

Saarani who obtained a Diploma in Science and Education (Physics and Mathematics) from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), then continued his education to acquire a Degree In Human Resource Management at Open University Malaysia (OUM).

He, who has been the Kota Tampan ADUN for four terms, has served under the three previous Perak Menteri Besar, namely Tan Sri Tajol Rosli Ghazali, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.

This experienced politician was also the Leader of the Opposition in the Perak DUN when Pakatan Harapan took over the state administration in 2018.